The Rise of Ragnarok
by GeneralDodders
Summary: This story of the Naruto universe features another organization bent on world domination in addition to the Akatsuki known as the Hidden Shadow Village. It also expands on the abilities of some of the characters whom I felt could have been much stronger than the canon shows. This fanfic will only include the new parts to the Naruto story and canon sections that have been changed.
1. Dosu's New Master

Dosu opened his eyes to find himself lying in bed in a dim-lit room; he had no idea what had just happened to him. One moment he was about to clash with Garaa who had revealed himself to be some kind of monster and the next thing he knew he was in this bed. 'What just happened to me?' Dosu thought to himself. 'Was that all some kind of a dream? It had to be. That thing was like a monster from kid's worst nightmare. There is no way it could've been real.' Dosu tried to get up but he was struck with pain throughout the right side of his body. He felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. 'This pain that I feel…if this is real than does that mean…all of that actually happened?'

"Good, you're finally awake. I was wondering when you were going to come around."

Dosu, startled by the voice he just heard, looked around to see who it was. Dosu saw that it was a barren room aside from the bed and in the corner was a man sitting in a chair next to a table with a single candle lit. He had short, nicely combed brown hair and sported a goatee on his face. He wore a black collared button shirt with long black pants underneath a plum jacket with long sleeves. He wore a black glove on his left hand. Beside him on the table was a bottle of sake, which he poured into a glass and drank as Dosu just stared at him.

"Who are you?" Dosu asked. "Why have you brought me here?"

"I am the man who just saved you life," he replied. "If it wasn't for me that Sand jinchurriki would've turned you into a stain."

"Jinchurriki? What in the world is that?" asked Dosu.

"A mere mortal with a creature of enormous power, power beyond imagining, locked away within his body" the man answered. "This creature is known as a Tailed Beast, and it is capable of unleashing unspeakable evil upon anything in its path. Surly you must have heard of such a monster before, haven't you Dosu?" Dosu had heard of these Tailed Beasts before. He heard rumors of the great destruction that they have caused in the past. As Dosu pondered over this, he began to sweat; he could not believe he just tried to take one of them head on.

As Dosu's vision became clearer, he recognized who the man was. "You're that jonin from the Shadow Village. You were watching the preliminaries earlier. Not to seem ungrateful but why did you save me?"

"I thought it would be a shame to let such a valuable piece of talent go to waste" the man answered as he drank his sake. "While I watched fight, I sensed a great degree of potential in you. Orochimaru is such a fool to allow something like this rot." Chills crawled up Dosu's spine at the very mention of his master's name.

"How do you know about Orochimaru?" Dosu asked as he started to panic on the inside. "What else do you know?"

"I know a lot of things about you, Dosu Kinuta" he replied. "I know that Orochimaru came to you when you had nothing and offered you a new life, one with power and greatness. I know he reduced you to a guinea pig to test the power of the curse mark he bestowed upon Sasuke Uchiha. I know he betrayed you, after you pledged your life to helping him achieve his own dreams he left you to die in the gutter."

Dosu began to perspire even more than before; he had no idea who was in the same room with him. Dosu's mind was racing, 'Can this man read minds? Is he one of Orochimaru's associates? Has he been spying on me and the Sound Village?'

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Dosu asked as his anxiety began to eat away at him from the inside out.

"I am known by many names," he replied as he poured another glass of sake. "But you can call me Ragnorak. And I simply want you to join me and my little Shadow Village."

Dosu pulled his legs out from under the covers and hung them over the side of his bed as he turned to completely face the man who called himself 'Ragnorak'. "You want me to betray Orochimaru and join you? Why would I do that?"

"Are you seriously going to continue following Orochimaru around like a lonely pup?" asked Ragnorak with a smirk on his face. "He betrayed you once, he is bound to do it again. I know you understand that you have outlived you usefulness to Orochimaru and that you are as good as dead to him. And you know what they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. If you become my disciple, I can deliver the greatness that Orochimaru promised you. I can grant you wealth and power beyond anything you could imagine. All I ask in return is your allegiance to the Village Hidden in the Shadows."

Dosu was trying to process everything that had just happened. 'This Ragnorak, whoever he is, saved my life when Orochimaru would've more than likely allowed me to die. When I saw that evil chakra surging from Sasuke's body and when that Garaa became that monster, my life flashed before my eyes both times. Now this man is offering me a brand new start. I know that there is nothing left for me if I continue following Orochimaru; he is bound to sacrifice me sooner or later. Still, how do I know I can trust this man?'

"What are you planning?" Dosu asked.

"I see no reason to lie to you, Dosu," replied Ragnorak. "I fear Orochimaru may become a threat to my own operations. It would be in my best interest obtain as much information about him as I can so that I can strike before he has a chance to bite me. You may merely be a genin, but I know you possess a fair amount of knowledge about the Sound Village, including Orochimaru's jutsu, the location of his hideouts, and the strength of his other subordinates."

"You actually think you can kill Orochimaru?" asked Dosu with disbelief mixed into his tone. "You have no idea the powers he is capable of. Besides, even if you are strong enough to kill him, what will happen to me after it's over? Orochimaru promised me the same things when he found me as an orphan. Why should I believe what you're saying right now? There is no promise you can make that I can entirely trust."

Ragnorak placed his glass on the table. "I assure you" he began, "I have much more respect for human life than Orochimaru does. People don't outlive their usefulness completely until they are dead. The fact that you are still alive right now means that there is still value inside of you. If you serve me, I will not let a single bit of that go to waste. After all, a flower cannot fully blossom unless it receives the necessary water and sunlight to allow it to grow. If you follow me, I will nurture your flower so that it can show all of its beauty in the world. Not only yours but your comrades' as well. I will welcome Zaku and Kin into the Hidden Shadow Village so that they will not have to suffer any twisted fate Orochimaru has in store for them. All three of you will live like kings if you follow me; I will make you shine greater than the brightest star. To demonstrate what I am capable of, I will train you personally for the next month to ensure that you have the opportunity to fight Sasuke that you so desire."

As Ragnorak spoke to him, Dosu found the very sound of his voice appealing like a beautiful song. There was something about it that touched his heart, something in explainable. It made the thought of joining Ragnorak all the more tempting. Dosu realized that he had been given a second chance and his mind was set on taking it. Dosu forced himself out of the bed, pushing through the pain running through his body. He walked towards Ragnorak and fell to his knees before him.

"I pledge myself and my abilities to you and your teachings, Lord Ragnorak," he said as he made his choice.

"Excellent. I believe you and your comrades will make excellent additions to the Hidden Shadow Village" said Ragnorak as he became filled with joy as he gazed upon his newest disciple.

"However," Dosu began. "I am not sure if Zaku and Kin will go along with this "switching sides" thing so easily. Both of them still bear strong loyalties to Orochimaru even if they are unable to understand his betrayal."

"I would not concern yourself with those two, my friend," replied Ragnorak. "I am a man of powerful means of persuasion. I can easily make them see the reality of the situation they are in and come over to my side."

"You aren't going to threaten them with force are you?" asked Dosu with a hint of concern.

"No no no, of course not. You do not need to concern yourself," assured Ragnorak. "I don't need to utilize such barbaric methods in order to get people to see my point of view. During the whole time we were here, have I at all used force as a means to persuade you to come around?"

"I apologize, I did not mean to question you" stated Dosu.

"There is nothing to apologize for, child," Ragnorak replied as he approached Dosu and lifted him up to his feet and guided him back to the bed. "You still have not completely recovered from your little incident. You need your rest." Dosu tucked himself into the bed as Ragnarok turned around to leave. "I will go now and retrieve your comrades. Our combined strength will be rewarded. The three of you will bathe in power and wealth and the Leaf, the Sand, the Sound, and all are enemies will fall before us."

With those words, Dosu was fast asleep. Ragnorak chuckled as he left to enlist Zaku and Kin to join his cause.


	2. Sakura's Resolve

Sakura lied on her bed in her room as she stared at the ceiling. A lot of things were running through her mind, most of all was the fact that she was in the final round of the Chunin Exams. She completely understood the circumstances of how she ended up there: there were an odd number of combatants who were participating in the preliminaries and the protector made it clear that one person would automatically advance to the final round. In the end, that person ended up being Sakura. Some people would say that she was the lucky one, but Sakura felt embarrassed and ashamed. It was the same as it always was; she got through an ordeal without doing anything. Every mission since she was one Team 7 was the same; Sasuke and Naruto were the ones who faced the enemy head on while she held back on the sidelines. The Chunin Exams opened her eyes to how pathetic she really was; if Rock Lee and the others hadn't shown up, those Sound Ninja would've easily killed and her friends.

To make matters worse, she was going up Ino Yamanaka in the finals, the most skilled genin in her class alongside Sasuke and Shino. Sakura remembered every since her days at the academy, Sakura never one a match against Ino. Every time they spared, Ino would use her clan's telepathy to make a fool out of her. When she used her jutsu to take over Sakura's mind, Ino would make her do things like jumping in mud puddles, picking her nose, eating bugs, and taking off her clothes in front of everyone. Ino would do anything to make Sakura look like a fool in front of Sasuke; now she had the chance to embarrass her in front of the entire village.

Sakura knew exactly what she had to do: she had to become stronger. Right now Naruto was training for his fight with Neji and she could only assume Sasuke was training for his fight with Garaa. She had to put forth the effort so that she could protect the ones she cared about all on her own. The only problem was she didn't know who could train her. Who could help her?

"Will you get off butt and help with the dishes!?" Sakura heard her mother Mebuki yelling at her father Kizashi. "Oh great, they're at it again,' moaned Sakura as she turned on her side. "I can't understand why a blowhard like my mother married a joker like my father…" It was then that Sakura looked at the white circle on her dress: the emblem of the Haruno Clan. "My father!" she exclaimed as she sat up on her bed. While Sakura knew her clan wasn't anything great like the Uchiha or the Hyuga, there had to be some special techniques within the Haruno Clan that her father could show her. Although he was a goofball like Naruto, Sakura knew her father Kizashi was a strong shinobi. Sakura pushed herself out of bed and headed downstairs to ask her father to train her. When Sakura got downstairs into the kitchen, she saw her parents arguing over the sink.

"You call yourself a great ninja and yet you can't even clean a dish properly!?" exclaimed Mebuki as she pestered her husband.

"Sorry dear, but I never any good at the Clean Dishes Jutsu" laughed Kizashi.

"Well you certainly didn't master the Good Joke Jutsu either," stated Mebuki. "Just let me do this and find some other way to make yourself useful for once." Mebuki took over the dishes as Kizashi walked past Sakura out of the kitchen into the living room. Kizashi was about to lie down on the sofa to catch some Zs when Sakura caught him.

"Hey Dad, can I ask you for a favor?" she asked.

"A favor?" asked Kizashi. "Well sure but it will cost you. If you need me to do your laundry, it will cost 5 Ryo. If you need me to go out shopping for you, it will cost 10 Ryo. But if you need to…"

"I want you to train me," interrupted Sakura. Kizashi's jovial attitude faded away when Sakura said this. This was an enormous surprise to him because his daughter never took her training completely seriously. Kizashi stared at her as he tried to find the words to say.

"You want me to train you?" he asked. "You were never too interested in practicing your ninjutsu on your own, let alone with me. You were always more concerned with maintaining that pretty hair of yours. Why do you all of a sudden want me to teach you?"

"Because I finally realized how weak I really am," Sakura answered as she lowered her head with shame. During the Chunin Exams, I couldn't protect my teammates all by myself. Right now they are trying to make themselves stronger and I am here doing nothing. I have always depended on them while they couldn't once depend on me." Sakura then raised her head as she became fueled with determination. "Right now I only have one month become stronger for the Finals. If I don't learn any new jutsu, not only will I look like a fool in front of the whole village but I won't ever be able to protect those two as they've done for me. Aren't there any jutsus that our clan uses that you can teach me? I have to become stronger for them." Kizashi was surprised to see his child so passionate about her training for once; he was unsure what to make of it all. As he saw fire in her eyes, he knew how serious she was right now. Kizashi knew that Sakura was finally ready to learn the clan's Hiden Jutsu.

"Well there is one technique that is unique to our clan," replied Kizashi. "However, it is not easy to master and I won't go easy on you. But if you really believe you are up for it, I will gladly teach it to you." Sakura's face filled up with joy upon hearing this.


	3. The Haruno Clan's Power

Later, Sakura and Kizashi stood outside in a wooded area facing each other where Kizashi was going to teach his daughter the Haruno Clan's technique.

"Alright Sakura," began Kizashi. "The jutsu that I am going to teach is one the Haruno use to increase their chakra levels well beyond those of an ordinary ninja. We accomplish this through the power of our emotions."

"Our emotions?" questioned Sakura. "What exactly does that mean?"

"It means that we increase our power by mixing the emotional energy from our emotions to our chakra," Kizashi explained. "As you know, chakra is made up of two different energies, physical energy and spiritual energy. What makes the Haruno Clan special is that we are able to add a third type of energy to the mix so as to increase the power of the other two energies. This energy is what we refer to as emotional energy."

"But how exactly to we get this emotional energy?' asked Sakura who was struggling to figure out what her father was talking about.

"We get it through our anger," he answered. "The angrier you become, the more emotional energy your body will create, and the stronger your chakra will become. Have you ever noticed when you get made you are a little stronger than usually?" Sakura pondered on this question and then recalled all the times she managed to leave an impression on Naruto. "That is because a little emotional energy from your anger mixed with your chakra to give you that very slight burst in power. However, it is not simply enough to be angry to use this technique effectively; you have to be able to draw in the emotional energy from your anger in order to use your power to the fullest. If you can't properly access the emotional energy from your feelings, you at most gain a temporary power boast for a moment or two."

Sakura placed her hands on her hips. "You keep talking about how emotional energy is going to make me stronger, but I still don't get exactly what this all means?"

"Well then, perhaps you would like a demonstration," suggested Kizashi. He then walked up to a tree and stood in front of it. For several more moments, he continued to just stand there in front of the tree doing nothing. Kizashi stood there for nearly a whole minute and all he did was start breathing more heavily. Meanwhile, Sakura just stood there trying to make sense of all this.

'What is with him?' she thought. 'Is he going to do anything or not? If this is another one of his lame jokes, I'm going to scream.'

Just then, Kizashi raised his right arm and punched the tree. He was able to knock the tree down with a single punch as if it was nothing. Sakura was stunned by this enormous increase in her father's power. Then, as Kizashi turned to face her, Sakura could not believe what she saw. Her father's eyes had turned red and the sclerae turned black. Kizashi was snarling like a beast that would kill the first thing that crossed its path. Sakura became so overcome with fear that she fell over backwards, unsure of what was going to happen. Just then, Kizashi's eyes began changing from red and black to their normal blue coloring. When his eyes were completely back to normal, he let out a great big laugh. "Was that enough of a demonstration for you?" he boasted.

"Wha…What just happened?" Sakura asked still sitting on the ground all shaken up.

"I did exactly as I explained to you: I used the emotional energy from my anger to increase my power," her father stated. "During the time I stood in front of that tree, I was making myself angry by bringing up the memories that made me the angriest. As I became angrier, I was able to draw upon more emotional energy from my anger and mix it with my chakra to create enough power to blow away that tree. However, as I have just demonstrated, there are a couple downsides to this jutsu. First of all, this is not a power that can be turned on and off like a switch; it can only be performed when the user is angry. If you are not angry, you won't be able to draw upon enough of emotional energy to increase your power. And you can't fake anger either; it has to be the real thing or else it won't work at all. Nevertheless, if you are able to find something around you that irritates you enough, then you should have no trouble getting emotional energy from whatever pain in the neck you have."

After Kizashi finished talking, Sakura pulled herself up and brushed the dirt off of her. "So you're saying in order to learn this technique I have to get angry first?"

"Right," Kizashi answered. "However, the Haruno has a special little shortcut for teaching this technique to its members. Our clan has a special genjutsu that triggers anger inside of you by stimulating the brain; when you are under this genjutsu, you can practice accumulating emotional energy from your anger. But getting angry isn't the only issue here. The other disadvantage is that as you take in more emotional energy, you become more consumed by your negative emotions such that you start lose sense of who you are. If that happens to you, you run the risk of hurting anyone who comes near you because your anger has such a strong hold over you. You have to be able to control your anger or else you will end up going on a rampage like a Tailed Beast."

"A what?" asked Sakura. Kizashi thought this wasn't something he should discuss with his daughter at the moment.

"Nevermind," said Kizashi. "Right now I will put the genjutsu on you and as you get angry, try to build emotional energy inside your body. Once you feel you are ready, try to knock down that tree with a single blow. Are you ready for this?"

Sakura felt more determined than she ever had before, the expression on her face said it all. "Let's do this!"

"Alright then." Kizashi said. He then proceeded to make the necessary hand signs. "Genjutsu: Rage Elevation!" At that moment, Sakura felt so mad for no apparent reason; it was as if the very world around her infuriated her. Everything around her made her even angrier. Throughout all of the rage, Sakura tried to focus on mixing the emotional energy into her chakra. Soon she began to feel a sudden surge of power flowing through her. Then suddenly, she charged towards the tree prepared to hit it with everything she had. She fired her fist into the wood only to slightly crack it. The sight her failure only served to anger her even more as she began to punch the tree repeatedly as if it was a punch bag. At this point, Kizashi felt it was time to stop. When he released the genjutsu, Sakura felt as if all her anger was rushing out of her body. She was panting heavily as she was resting herself against the tree she just tried to demolish.

"Let's go again in a minute" she said.

After a couple days of this training, Sakura was lying on her back exhausted. She was sweating like a pig and her body and clothes were covered in dirt. She was surrounded by numerous trees with small to medium sized cracks that were the victims of her rage. As she looked upon her work, she was discouraged to see that she could only make a few cracks in it. The very sight of this made Sakura's heart sink to the bottom of the ocean. She wondered if she could even learn a technique like this, how could she ever hope to catch up to Sasuke or Naruto?

Sakura's frustration was then interrupted by Kizashi as he sat next to her and patted her shoulder. "Like I said before, this is not an easy jutsu to master. Normally I wouldn't expect a 12-year-old child to be able to master this technique in a month. However, given that you are the brightest kunoichi of your age I have ever seen, I think you will be an exception."

Sakura was still not as convinced as she sat up next to her father. "What have I done to make you believe that I would become a great ninja?" she asked. "I have never taken the time to train like this, I spent more time in front of a mirror than practicing with my ninja tools, and I am always the dead weight on my team. What reason do you have to believe in me?"

"This." Kizashi tapping on the circle on Sakura's back. "This symbol doesn't just mean that you are a member of the Haruno Clan. It also means that you are my daughter, and as your father it is my duty as a parent to believe in. It is because of that that I know you can do this."

Hearing this made Sakura feel a little better. She then found the motivation to push through her exhaustion so that she would be prepared for her fight with Ino. "Again!" she yelled.


	4. The Samurai's Flame

At the final round the Chunin Exams, the match between Naruto Uzuamki's and Neji Hyuga had just ended and they had decided to postpone the match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara of the Sand and proceed to the match that was to follow after it. This next match was to be between Dosu Kinuta of the Sound Village and Takasago of the Shadow Village.

Takasago was a 15-year-old samurai from the Hidden Shadow Village. He had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail and a scar on his left check. He wore a standard samurai outfit consisting of a blue robe and beige pants with a forehead protector bearing the symbol of the Shadow Village around his neck. He carried a long katana around his black sash.

As his match was about to start, Dosu was pondering on all of his training with Ragnarok during the past month. Ragnarok claimed that this fight was to serve as a test for Dosu's abilities to see if he really was qualified to be his disciple. He also pondered on Takasago's abilities when he watched him during the preliminaries. Dosu remembered that Takasago was a samurai who could create arcs of chakra with the swing of his katana. Dosu didn't know much else about him; Ragnarok wouldn't tell him anything about this young samurai so as to avoid giving him an unfair advantage in this fight.

When the protector announced the match, Takasago jumped into the arena while Dosu jumped in after him. The two combatants walked towards the center of the field without either one looking at the other. They reached the center on opposite sides of the proctor Genma, turned to face each other, and began to stare down their opponent.

"If you value your life, I suggest you forfeit right now, Sound Ninja" Takasago said with a stern expression. "You will receive no mercy from me and your death will be far from painless."

"It's insulting that you think I can be scared off so easily," rebuked Dosu to the samurai. "I have come too far now to quit, especially when my goal is just within my reach. I will fight Sasuke, and you will not stand in my way."

Meanwhile, Ragnarok was sitting among the spectators in the stadium eager to see who this match would play out. He was wearing a black cloak with his hood up so as to keep his face hidden. Sitting beside him was a young boy of between 12 and 13 years old who was also wearing a black hooded cloak.

"Master," the boy said to Ragnarok. "Forgive me but I do not understand why you are pitting this Sound Ninja against Takasago when he and his comrades have already sworn their allegiance to us. You are running the risk of losing one of your disciples this way. Why would you train Dosu to fight one of your own shinobi?"

"I wanted to use this fight as a chance to measure the limits of Dosu's abilities," answered Ragnarok. Since Takasago already received tutelage from me, it wouldn't be a fair fight if I didn't provide a little of that same tutelage to Dosu. Wouldn't you agree, my apprentice?"

"I admit that there is some reason in what you say," the apprentice responded. "But what if one of them ends up killing the other? It would merely be a minor loss, but a loss nonetheless."

"You are right, Rensho" said Ragnarok. "This is not just a test for Dosu but for Takasago as well. After all, he was the only Shadow Ninja to make to the final round. I want to make sure his skills receive the challenge they deserve. I would prefer it if both of them lived. But if one of them does end up dying, we will have to make due."

In the arena, Genma stepped away from the two fighters as he was about to let the match start. Dosu was clutching his right sleeve as he prepared to unveil his Melody Arm while Tagasoka placed his hand on his katana as he was ready to unsheathe it. With the suspense building up, Genma raised his and dropped it.

"Begin!"

With that, Dosu whipped out his Melody Arm and charged for Takasago, who had his sword pulled out. The young samurai raised his sword to slice Dosu, but the Sound Ninja was able to block it with his gauntlet. As Takasago put pressure on his sword against Dosu's gauntlet, Dosu merely gave a chuckle. He then proceeded to perform his Vibrating Sound Drill, unleashing sound waves absorbed from his Melody Arm and driving them into Takasago's left ear. Dosu laughed as he believed he had ended the fight in a blink of an eye. However, Dosu was astonished to see that his jutsu wasn't taking effect; Takasago was still standing as if nothing had happened. The samurai then pulled back his blade and prepared to take advantage of Dosu's confusion by aiming for his head. However, at the last minute, Dosu jumped back as the blade swung inches past his face. Dosu moved back a bit to recover while Takasago replaced his sword in his scabbard.

'What is going on!?' Dosu wondered. 'I aimed the sound right at his ear! Why didn't it work?!'

"I am guessing you're wondering why your jutsu didn't have any effect on me. It is because of this," said Takasago to his confused opponent as he pointed to his ear. Dosu then saw what the problem was: Takasago had put plugs in his ear to blot out the sound. "I understand how your jutsu works from the preliminaries: as long as I can't hear anything, your jutsu will not work on me. I hope that is not the only trick you have up your sleeve."

Dosu calmed himself down as he attempted to get a handle on the situation. He thought to himself, "Its fine. I have plenty of other new tricks to show you and everyone else.'

Takasago unsheathed his sword again and swung it to fire a crescent of chakra at Dosu, who managed to jump over it. The samurai then proceeded to fire multiple chakra crescents repeatedly, forcing Dosu to make a run for it so as to constantly avoid his attacks.

'He's trying to defeat me from a distance,' Dosu thought as he scurried to dodge the chakra slashes. 'Well two can play at this game.' Dosu then aimed his Melody Arm at Takasago and fired a sonic blast from it. The incoming attack forced the samurai to move out of the way, thus temporarily stopping his charka crescent fury. Dosu then proceeded to fire multiple sound blasts at the disoriented samurai, who managed to recover and resume his fury of chakra slashes. The match became an exchange of volleys as both sides bombarded the other with numerous ranged attacks while avoiding the other's attacks at all costs. After a minute of this back and forth, both components ceased fire. Both Dosu and Takasago were panting heavily from the previous engagement.

As the fight was going on, Ragnarok smiled as he looked upon the spectacle that was transpiring. 'Wonderful,' he thought. 'Both of you.'

Takasago channeled chakra into his sword and drove it into the ground. This created great fissures in the ground resulting from the slicing power of his chakra. This fissures were heading were being directed straight at Dosu. Upon realizing his predicament, Dosu placed his right hand on the ground as the fissures were heading towards him. Just then, the ground around Dosu began to check and fissures began erupting from around his hands and heading towards the fissures that Takasago created. When the opposing fissures met, the entire arena began to shake violently from the powerful tremors created from the combined techniques. Both Dosu and Takasago were knocked off balance from the tremors; a good deal of the spectators was able to feel the vibrations. In the end, both attacks ended up cancelling each other out without really harming the two shinobi.

'Well, it would seem his ability to manipulate the sound waves that gauntlet absorbs has drastically improved,' thought Takasago as he picked himself off the ground. 'He can control the sound to create blasts capable of destroying his targets. In addition, he can run the sound vibrations through the earth so as to generate earthquakes and fissures. It would appear I am going to have to take this fight to the next level.' Takasago clutched his sword and began channeling chakra through it. Then all of a sudden, the sword became engulfed in fire.

"Fire Style: Flash!" Takasago swung his sword and unleashed a large arc off fire upon Dosu. Dosu, taken by surprise by this new technique, quickly jumped out of the way of the technique, just barely avoiding the flames as they spread on the ground.

'This guy can use fire jutsu?!' thought the dumbfounded Dosu who barely escaped that attack. 'How can he do that?!'

In fact, this was a sight that astounded many in the stadium, including the Third Hokage who thought to himself, 'A samurai who can perform nature transformation? This is unheard of. Who is that boy?'

Takasago then proceed to unleash multiple fire crescents around Dosu. Fire began spreading all around Dosu, who realized that the samurai was trying to prevent him from running away. As he became surrounded by fire, Dosu knew that it would be impossible for him to continue avoiding his attacks. Dosu eventually found himself standing in the center of a large ring of fire, while Takasago looked on as he smiled with pride.

"This is as far as you go, Sound Ninja!" proclaimed the samurai. "You have fought valiantly! As a reward for your valor, I will grant you one last chance: forfeit this fight and your life will be spared!" He then took out one of his earplugs so that he could hear Dosu's response.

Dosu looked at the situation he was in. He was running out of options and was unsure of what to do. For a second, he considered forfeiting. But just then, he remembered what he said to Sasuke in The Forrest of Death: 'For the moment, we're even. But if it should happen that we ever again meet in combat, I promise…you we won't run or hide.' Upon remembering these words, Dosu knew that he could not run away now.

"You can take that offer and stick in your ear along with those earplugs of yours!"

"If that is your choice, then so be it! I will grant you a warrior's death worthy of remembrance! Prepare yourself!" Takasago raised his fire-engulfed sword and swung, unleashing a crescent of fire chakra heading straight towards Dosu. Dosu then gathered his chakra into his Melody Arm to make the sound as strong as he could. He then raised arm and just as the fire crescent was about to reach him, he unleashed a powerful sound wave that erased the fire crescent and the fire surrounding him. The blast was so great that it even knocked Takasago back a bit.

"I am going to end this fight, right here and now!" shouted Dosu. Then suddenly, Dosu extended a blade from his Melody Arm and charged right for Takasago.

After he recovered, the samurai could not believe what he was seeing. 'Does this fool actually thing he can defeat me in a sword fight? He must be desperate! No matter, I finish him with one move!' Takasago grasped his katana and covered it with fire chakra as he rushed towards Dosu. Both opponents raised their blades as they charged and in the very center of the arena the two warriors' blades met. Just then, Takasago's katana shattered into pieces. The samurai was so surprised that he didn't have time react. Dosu then swung his blade and cut Takasago across the torso. Takasago, writhing in pain, feel to his knees.

"I'm not done yet!" exclaimed Dosu.

Just then, Takasago felt a sharp stabbing pain in his ear; he felt as if someone drove an ice pick into his ear and brain. 'How is this possible? I thought that my earplugs would…wait a minute!' Takasago just remembered that after he took one of his earplugs out to hear Dosu's reply, he didn't have a chance to put it back in. This is what left the opening for Dosu's Vibrating Sound Drill. With that, the Takasago collapsed completely on the ground. However, the young samurai was still conscious.

"What…what did you do to my sword?" groaned Takasago as he lied there.

"Sometime in the middle of the fight, I realized that the source of all your jutsu came from your sword," began Dosu. "Without it you would be powerless. A samurai without his sword is a lot like a man who loses his manhood, isn't it. By manipulating the sound my gauntlet absorbs, I am able to channel the vibrations into this blade that I had built into it so it will vibrate at an incredibly high speed for increased cutting effectiveness. Once our blades clashed, I was able to channel the vibrations from my gauntlet, through my blade, and into your sword, causing it to shatter. Without your sword, all you skills are useless."

All Takasago could do was lay there frustrated and helplessly as he knew he was finished. "What now?" he asked. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No," Dosu replied. "You are strong; there is no doubt of that. Our master could really use your talents."

"Our…master?" asked the bewildered Takasoga

Genma walked over to the two of them to make the call and officially bring the match to an end.

"The winner is Dosu Kinuta."

With that there was a loud applause from the entire audience. Within the spectators, Ragnarok was very pleased with outcome. 'Excellent. Not only have I gained a very skilled disciple, but I managed to retain another one."


	5. Clash of the Kunoichi Rivals

The second match had just ended. Dosu returned to the combatants' box while Takasago was carried away on a stretcher to receive medical attention. Genma announced that they would now be moving on to the next match: Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka.

Sakura was wearing her sleeved red qipao dress sporting the white circle of the Haruno clan while Ino was wearing an orange t-shirt with a stylized kanji for the word "boar" in a light green circle on the upper left side of her chest, brown shorts, and cream-colored elbow guards.

After their names were called, Sakura and Ino stared at each other intensely before turning to head down to the arena.

"Go get 'em, Sakura!" boasted Naruto as Sakura was about to leave. "You can totally wipe the floor with Ino's face! Believe it!" Sakura smiled at Naruto confidence and nodded before she went to follow Ino out.

Sakura had caught up to Ino and they were walking side by side down the corridor to the arena. They didn't say a single word to each other the whole time they were walking. The most that they did was slightly glance Sat each other. They entered the arena and proceeded to the center where the proctor was waiting for them. Meanwhile in the stands, Kizashi and Mebuki were anxious to see how their daughter would perform.

"Do you think she will be alright for this?" asked a concerned Mebuki to her husband.

"Based on what I've seen from Sakura this past month, the one I would be concerned about is Ino," chuckled Kizashi. "Just wait until you see what she can do."

Sakura and Ino stood in the center of the arena staring waiting for Genma to give the word to start the match.

You know," began Ino. "I never imagined that I would have to fight you in during these exams. It doesn't really make a difference to me. I've been making you look like a loser ever since we were kids in the academy. The only difference is that this time I get to do it in front of the entire village. I saw how pathetic you were during the second exam; after all this time you are still just a flower that hasn't bloomed yet." At the sound of these words, Sakura's blood began to boil. Nevertheless, she was still able to keep herself in check so as to not lose her focus. She wanted Ino to take her seriously and not treat her like the weak little crybaby who would always lose to her.

"Let's get one thing straight Ino," Sakura began. "I am not going to fight you over Sasuke, got it! All my life I have looked up to you, always letting myself be outdone by you! But all of that is going to end today, once and for all! Today is the day that I finally surpass you and everyone in the village is going to get to see it!"

Ino was taken completely by surprise by this new attitude of Sakura's. She never saw her with this kind of determination before. "What the hell did you just say?" questioned a slightly flustered Ino. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? You are nothing compared to me! Have you forgotten all the times I humiliated you in front of our whole class? The stuff I forced you to do? Maybe because this is such a special occasion I'll force you to do something that will really turn some heads around, like make you strip down all the way to your underwear! How's that sound, Billboard Brow?"

At the sound of this threat, Sakura smiled and chuckled. "Keep it up because you've humiliated me for the last time, Ino Pig!"

Judging by the way they were trying to rile each other up, Genma felt it was time to let these dogs off their leashes. "Begin!"

Sakura immediately pulled out several kunai and threw them at Ino. However, Ino knew what Sakura was going to do because of her telepathy; she easily managed to dodge and block the thrown kunai. Sakura then rushed forward towards Ino so as to engage her in close combat, but the young Yamanaka anticipated every one of Sakura's punches and kicks and dodged them all. In the end, Sakura was hitting nothing but air. Just then, Ino punched Sakura in the stomach, knocking her back several meters to the ground.

"You never learn, do you Sakura?" mocked Ino as Sakura began to get back on her feet.

"I see your mind reading abilities are as sharp as ever," noted Sakura who was now standing up again. "Good. I wouldn't want this to be too easy for me."

"You're bringing a lot of talk here today, Sakura. Let's how well you do at backing it up." Ino then made square-shaped hand sign. "Mind Destruction Jutsu!" All of a sudden, Sakura lost control of her entire body; she couldn't move anything on her own. Ino was telepathically controlling Sakura's body. Sakura grabbed her weapons pouch and her shuriken holster and threw them towards Ino, who picked them and dumped the ninja tools inside into her own pack. "I am curious to see how you are going to fight without any of your weapons. Should be interesting."

In the stands, Asuma and Kurenai were also watching the match.

"The Mind Destruction Jutsu?" questioned Kurenai. "If I recall that's a B-rank technique, but I heard that Ino managed to learn that technique while she was still at the Academy. How is she able to use it at such a young age?"

"It's because of the Yamanaka Clan's master over telepathy," answered Asuma. "The Yamanaka telepathically pass down their jutsu from one generation to the next. Not only is the information transmitted from one Yamanaka to the other, but also the experience of using that jutsu. This is why the Yamanaka Clan has a tendency to produce incredibly skilled shinobi; this means of training allows them master techniques that would normally take months or even years in a matter of days. This method of learning jutsu from another's mind is said to be almost as efficient as the Sharingan."

Back in the arena, Sakura was still under Ino's Mind Destruction Jutsu.

"Now then, how about we play an old favorite game of ours: Why Are You Hitting Yourself?" laughed Ino. Just then, Sakura began punching her own body. This was something that Ino would do to Sakura during the matches in the Academy; Ino would take control of Sakura's body and make her beat herself up. Ino forced Sakura to punch herself all over her body, including her head, arms, legs, and torso. Although she was feeling a great deal of pain from her own blows, Sakura was powerless to resist Ino's jutsu. In a matter of time, Sakura's entire body became covered in bruises that she herself caused; she even began to spit up a little blood.

"Well, are you ready to give up yet Sakura, or do you play another round?" mocked Ino.

"Come on Sakura! Do something! Don't let her make a fool out of you!" shouted Naruto from the sidelines.

Sakura just stood there, not saying a word. She promised herself that she wouldn't let Ino make a fool of her again. The fact that Ino was making her beat herself up in front of everyone only made her madder and madder. As this was happening, Sakura attempted to draw upon the emotional energy that her anger was creating.

"If that's how it's going to be, then let's go again!" said Ino. Ino raised Sakura's right fist and moved to hit her in the face again. Just as Sakura was about to punch herself again, her fist stopped right before it hit her face. Sakura's right arm began shaking as it was struggling to move on its own. Sakura began resisting Ino's jutsu by slowly moving her body with her own will. 'What is happening?!' panicked Ino. 'There is no way she can resist my jutsu! How is this possible?!'

Meanwhile in the stands, Kizashi laughed at the sight of this.

"Do you care to explain what is so funny about all of this?" asked Mebuki who was not in the least bit amused. "Are daughter is beating herself up and you are sitting here laughing!"

"For all the strength of the Yamanaka Clan's telepathy jutsu, it has one distinct weakness," explained Kizashi. "If the will power of the victim is strong enough, the jutsu can be broken. The wonderful thing about the Haruno Clan's technique is that it strengthens the user's will. By mixing emotional energy with the user's chakra, it enhances their both their physical and spiritual energy. The Yamanaka's jutsu relies primarily on spiritual energy, so in order for it to work the spiritual energy of the Yamanaka must be stronger than that of her opponent. The stronger the enemy's spiritual energy is, the harder it becomes for the Yamanaka to maintain control over her. And that is exactly what we are seeing right now. It's something I picked up on when I sparred with Inoichi a long time ago."

Sakura began feeling a great surge of power flowing throughout her body. This surge made it even harder for Ino to maintain her Mind Distruction Jutsu. All of sudden, Ino couldn't hold her any longer and was forced to break off the jutsu. Sakura stood there panting heavily and severely bruised but free of Ino's control. Ino could not believe what had just happened.

"So, it looks like Sakura actually has managed to improve a bit," observed Ino. "If she was able to break free of my Mind Destruction Jutsu once, it's safe to assume that she can do it again. No problem, she hasn't seen half of what I can do." Ino then began channeling chakra into her hands.

'What she doing?' wondered Sakura. 'I've never seen her use this kind jutsu.'

Ino then proceeded to rush for Sakura. Although she had no idea what the jutsu was going to do, Sakura knew she could not let Ino hit her with. Ino swung her chakra covered hands at Sakura, who managed to jump back out of Ino's attack range. Ino then proceeded to deliver multiple swings at Sakura, who continued trying to avoid her attacks. However, Sakura's body still hadn't recovered from earlier so her movements were becoming a little sloppy. Ino took advantage of this and managed to strike Sakura's right shoulder with her left hand. After this happened, Sakura jumped back to put some distance between the two of them. Sakura turned to her shoulder to see what the damage was, but there was no trace of a cut there.

'Maybe her jutsu backfired somehow,' thought Sakura. 'Anyway, I can't just play defense.' As she was preparing to make her move, Sakura realized that she couldn't feel her right arm at all. No matter what she did, it wouldn't move. 'What's going on?! What did she do to my arm?!'

"You wanna know what I did?" asked Ino raising her left hand covered in chakra. "This jutsu allows me to send mental chakra from my hands into any part of my opponent's body that I happen to touch. This chakra then disrupts the nervous system by cutting it off from the brain so that you can't feel that part of your body. When I touched your shoulder, I was able to cut off the entire nervous system in your right arm so that you can't use it no matter how hard you try. But I'm just getting started!"

Sakura knew that she was in trouble with only one arm to use. Ino charged for Sakura with her chakra covered-hands hands. At the same, however, Ino was reading Sakura's mind so as to determine how she was going to move. She jabbed her right hand forward while Sakura dodged it by moving to the right. But Ino managed to see this coming and quickly grabed Sakura's left arm with her left hand. Now Sakura last control of both of her arms. Ino was still holding on to Sakura's arm so as to prevent her from running away again. She then grabbed her arm with both hands and flipped on her back against the ground. Once Sakura was down, Ino jumped on her and grabbed both her legs with her chakra-covered hands. At this point, Sakura couldn't use either her legs or her arms.

Ino got off of Sakura and smiled. "I've taken away your weapons and your limbs. You're as good as done Sakura."

Sakura felt as if she had run out of options. 'What can I do? What can I do? She's too strong firm me.' She then started to cry several tears of shames. 'I can't believe I lost to her again! What was I thinking, saying I would surpass her? I'm so pathetic!'

On the sidelines, Naruto was gritting his teeth. "Come on Sakura! Get up! You can't just quit now after how far you've come! Get up and show them all what you're made of!"

In the stands, Kizashi was whispering to himself, "Come on. Get up. Get up."

Genma then started walking towards Sakura. Sakura knew that he was going to end the match unless she did something. As he got closer, Sakura become more and more irritated at the thought of losing to Ino like this. As Genma stood over Sakura, she was so angry she couldn't stand it.

"Because her opponent can no longer continue, the winner is…"

"NOOOOO!"

Ino and Genma looked with astonishment that Sakura was actually getting up. She was slowly beginning to move her limbs again.

"That's impossible!" shouted Ino. "My jutsu shouldn't have worn off already! How are you able to move?!"

"What's going on?" asked Mebuki. "I thought Ino paralyzed Sakura. So how is she able to move?"

"Didn't I already tell you?" asked Kizashi. "The strength of the Yamanaka's jutsu is dependent on the weakness of the enemy's willpower. As Sakura's chakra became stronger by accumulating emotional energy, it was able to push through the chakra that Ino had injected into her body to sever her limbs from her brain. Think of it like a dam rupturing because the water pressure is too great."

Sakura was now standing on both her two feet. Ino felt an enormous amount of power surging from her body. As Sakura raised her head, Ino was frightened to see that her eyes had turned red and her sclera turned black.

'What is all this power I feel coming from her?' worried Ino. 'How can she be this strong?' Ino then tried to read Sakura's mind so as to get a better understanding of what was going on. When she tried to do so, all she could feel was rage and anger and nothing else; she was unable to read Sakura's thoughts.

Sakura charged for Ino and delivered a powerful punch into her stomach, causing her an enormous amount of pain. Ino was sent flying into the wall of the arena.

"Ino!" yelled Shikamaru from the box. Beside him, the sight of Sakura's power sent chills up Naruto's spine as he watched on.

Sakura then charged for Ino again and delivered a powerful kick to her torso; the force of the blow sent tremors into the wall. Sakura began pounding Ino repeatedly, dealing a good deal of damage to her body. Sakura stopped for a moment as she looked down on Ino, who had blood running down her face and bruises all over her body. She then grabbed Ino by her shirt threw her halfway across the arena. As Ino struggled to get up, Sakura started to charge again.

'She…is so…strong,' thought Ino as she was barely able to stand up. 'What can I do? None of my telepathy jutsu are working on her.' As Sakura headed for her, Ino was thinking as fast as she could. 'I guess I have no choice but to use that jutsu.' Ino then placed her hands together and started focusing her chakra. Sakura was almost on top of her and was prepared to deal to her another blow. As Sakura drove her right fist forward, Ino managed to catch it with her left hand. As she held Sakura's fist, Ino's veins started popping all throughout her body. The strength of her muscles had increased exponentially. Ino then drove her right fist into Sakura's chin and knocked her off her feet.

"No way!" exclaimed Asuma. "Ino's using that jutsu?!"

"What jutsu is this?" asked Kurenai.

"It's a jutsu that allows the Yamanaka to access 100% of their muscles strength," explained Asuma. "This is achieved by accessing the brain's neurological pathways to remove the limiters on the muscles. It basically achieves the same end result as Guy when he opens the Inner Gates, except the Yamanaka don't have to open the gates directly because power they possess over the human brain. Also like Guy's technique, this leaves the user incredibly exhausted and fatigued. Ino is only supposed to use this jutsu as a last resort. I can't believe Sakura actually managed to push her this far."

Sakura got back on her feet and charged for Ino while Ino headed right for her. The two kunoichi punched each other's fists upon contact; the intense power from both sides created a massive shockwave. The two of them began dealing multiple blows to each other, trying to do as much damage to the other. However, Sakura started to get the upper hand. The more pain she felt, the angrier she grew, the more emotional energy she accumulated, and the stronger she became. Sakura's growing power began to overwhelm Ino. Eventually, it reached the point where Ino had reached her limit. However, Sakura was not letting up; she continued to punch away at Ino without any slowing down. Sakura's anger was getting the better of her; the excessive amount of emotional energy she built up was preventing her from thinking clearly. Sakura stopped the pounding for a moment and Ino stood before her looking like a wreck. Her face was covered with blood, her clothes were all tattered, and there were bruises over every portion of her skin. Sakura began focusing an enormous amount of emotional chakra into her fist as she was prepared to deliver the final blow.

'This is bad!' thought Genma. 'She's going to kill her! I have to her!'

He rushed but knew he wouldn't he couldn't make it in time. Sakura was heading for Ino with full force. Before the final blow was struck, Kizashi jumped in front of her and placed his hand on her forehead. When this happened, Sakura stopped in her tracks. Her eyes started turning back to normal; she was calming down.

"That's enough, Sakura," said Kizashi. "You did great. I knew you could do it." Sakura had come to her senses.

As she looked at Ino, Sakura could not believe that she managed to that to her. The veins on Ino's body started to recede. At last, Ino collapsed on ground from the combined fatigue from her muscle enhancement jutsu and the fury Sakura dealt her. Genma walked in and decided to call it.

"The winner is Sakura Haruno."

Sakura was speechless; she actually defeated Ino. This was something that she dreamed of accomplishing since she was a kid. At last, she managed to make her dream a reality, and she did it with the entire village watching. The medical team came out with a stretcher, carefully placed Ino on it, and prepared to take her away.

"Wait," Ino said to the medics. "I want to say something to Sakura." The medics informed Sakura of this and she walked towards where Ino was lying down and knelled beside her. "I never would have imagined that I would end up losing to you. How embarrassing is that. It looks like you finally have a flower to bloom, and a beautiful flower at that haven't you Sakura?"

"Ino…" Sakura was brought to tears. Finally, the person she had aspired to be like for so long had acknowledged her own strength. Ino simply chuckled at Sakura's crying. Ino then struggled to raise up her hand, which Sakura clutched and lifted it up.

"You better enjoy this while you can Sakura," said Ino. "Cause the next time we time we fight, I won't lose to you. Remember, I am not just going to hand over Sasuke to you, understand."

"Hmm, well that goes double for you, Ino." said Sakura smiling.

Ino was then carried off by the medics while Sakura stood before the applauding audience.


	6. Sakura vs Kimimaro

_(For this chapter we are jumping ahead to the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. What is different in this story is that Sasuke has decided to take Sakura with him as he leaves the Leaf Village, so Sakura accompanies him and the Sound Ninja Four as they journey to the Sound Village. However, Shizune is able to send word to the Hokage of this after her team engages the sound ninja. Tsunade then has Shikamaru assemble his team of Naruto, Chouji, Kiba, and Neji and sends them to retrieve both Sasuke and Sakura. When Naruto and his team get caught in Jirobo's earth jutsu, Sakura tries to intervene to save them but becomes restrained by Kidomaru's webbing. Following Sasuke's orders not to kill Sakura, the sound ninja carry her off along with Sasuke._

_Later Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba are able to retrieve both Sasuke and Sakura right before Kimimaro shows up. Before going off to fight Kimimaro and get Sasuke back, Naruto has set aside Sakura, who is still trapped in Kidomaru's webbing.)_

Sakura lay there against a tree as she continued to struggle to break out of the webbing. As she lay there, Sakura became filled with self-loathing.

'What can I do?' Sakura asked herself. 'Naruto and the others are out there risking their lives and I can't even help them! Just like I couldn't stop Sasuke from leaving the village, there's nothing I can do! I'm nothing but a burden! Everyone is trying to help me, the one who abandoned them all without a second thought! Why are they sacrificing themselves for someone as worthless as me?!' Sakura started to cry as she looked at the hopelessness of the situation she was in. 'None of this would've happened if I had stopped Sasuke myself. Even if he is stronger than me, I should've tried to stop him no matter what. What do I do instead? I throw away everything! My family, my friends, everything that I take for granted! I don't deserve to be called a ninja.'

As Sakura became filled with more regret for what she did, she began to hate herself even more. As her hatred grew, her sadness started to turn to anger. As she continued to try to rip away at the webbing, Sakura managed to create a small tear in it.

'What? How did this happen?' Sakura asked herself. As she gripped the webbing, she noticed that it felt drier than it did when Kidomaru originally encased her in it. 'I see. This technique must weaken over time. As it becomes exposed to the air, this stuff must dry out and becomes harder. If I can exert enough power, maybe I can rip through it.'

Sakura then started to focus on getting herself mad enough to increase the power of her chakra. As she continued to dwell upon how useless she was to her friends right now, she became more frustrated and that frustration fueled her power. As her emotions became stronger so did her chakra. The tear she made in the webbing slowly became larger. Sakura was unleashing all of her anger onto these tear.

After some time, Sakura had managed to achieve a great level of power from her emotions. Thanks to this surge she managed to tear open the entire webbing. After she pulled off whatever webbing still clung to her, Sakura took off in the direction Naruto went with the intention of helping him bring Sasuke back to the Leaf Village.

Meanwhile, Kimimaro had defeated all of Naruto's clones and Sasuke had run off after being free from the coffin. Naruto tried to go after Sasuke but Kimimaro intervened.

"It's no use," Kimimaro said. "Now die!"

Just as Kimimaro was about to kill Naruto, Sakura jumped in a landed a blow on a distracted Kimimaro, knocking him back.

"Cha!" shouted Sakura who still had some power from the emotional energy she built up earlier. Naruto was astounded to see Sakura standing before him.

'She's that girl who was tied up in Kidomaru's web,' noted Kimimaro. 'I'm impressed how she was able to break free from it.'

"Sakura? How did you get out of that stuff?" asked a dumbfounded Naruto. But Sakura did not answer him.

Sakura saw the pieces of the shattered coffin that Sasuke was being kept in and realized that he must've been free at last.

"Naruto, where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"He just ran off into the woods," answered Naruto. "I tried to talk to him but he just laughed and ran away." Hearing this reminded Sakura of how lost Sasuke had become.

"Naruto, go after Sasuke!" she exclaimed. "I'll hold this guy here!"

"Sakura you can't!" protested Naruto. "This guy strength is unbelievable! Here's too strong for you to fight! You'll only end up dead!"

"Forget about me! Just go!" commanded Sakura.

"Are you crazy?" refuted Naruto. "I'm not going to let you throw your life away here!"

"Naruto please!" Sakura pleaded as she started to cry. Naruto could not believe what he was seeing. "Naruto, I don't blame you if you hate me. I was willing to leave you all alone so that I could be with Sasuke. All the things you grew up without, family, friends, I was prepared to throw it all away. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm just a selfish little girl. I hate myself even more for having to ask you to do this. This is a once in a lifetime request: please bring Sasuke back home. Even if you do hate, I'm begging you, bring Sasuke back to me. I tried so hard but I couldn't stop him from leaving the village. I tried. I really did. At this point, you're the only one who can stop him. You're the only one who can save him."

Upon hearing these words, Naruto smiled.

"I could never hate you Sakura," Naruto said. "I understand. You must really love Sasuke, don't you? No matter what you do, you're my friend."

Sakura was shocked to hear Naruto say this; after everything she had done, Naruto still considered her his fried.

Naruto gave Sakura a big smile and a thumbs up. "You don't have to worry about a thing, Sakura! I'm gonna bring Sasuke back no matter what. That's a promise of a lifetime."

"Thank you," Sakura said softly as she finally stopped crying.

"I'll let you take care of this guy," Naruto said. "Just be careful, he uses his own bones as weapons."

"Got it," Sakura said as she began to toughen up. Naruto turned to go after Sasuke, entrusting Kimimaro to Sakura.

"I don't think so," said Kimimaro, who then jumped over Sakura and headed for Naruto. "You die!" Kimimaro swung his sword and sliced into Naruto's body. Naruto fell to the ground as his body lay motionless. "That's one down."

However, Kimimaro was astounded to see Naruto's body fade before his eyes. Then Sakura jumped onto Kimimaro, delivering a powerful punch to his face and knocking him to the side. As Kimimaro recovered, he saw Naruto managed to get away

'It looks like all of my genjutsu training with Kurenai Sensei is finally paying off,' Sakura thought to herself.

'So this girl can use genjutsu,' Kimimaro noted as he looked upon Sakura. 'On top of that she has great power.' Kimimaro then noticed the white circle on Sakura's dress. 'I see. She's a member of the Haruno Clan. As I recall from Lord Orochimaru, they are capable of making their chakra stronger by feeding on their emotions.'

"I am your opponent now," Sakura said to him. She was burning up with emotions, ready to destroy anything that stood in her way.

Sakura charged for Kimimaro, ready to deal another blow to him. However Kimimaro stepped to the side, easily avoiding her strike. She took another swing at him but he ducked, avoiding it again. Sakura tried to land a punch in Kimimaro's face but he jumped back out of range. Kimimaro then jumped over her and while in the air swung his sword at Sakura, cutting her back. However Sakura bore the pain and continued trying to hit Kimimaro, who continued evading her attacks. Sakura then jumped up to pounce on her foe, but Kimimaro jumped back as she only ended up striking the ground.

'His speed is too fast for me,' Sakura thought as she panted. 'I can't land a single hit.'

"You have no technique," Kimimaro said to her. "You come at me like a madwoman. Your form is so sloppy that your next move is obvious."

'If I can't take him head on, I'll have to take him by surprise,' Sakura thought. After wielding several hand signs, Sakura disappeared right before Kimimaro's eyes.

"Genjutsu again, I see," observed the Kaguya. "That little trick of won't work on me twice." Kimimaro placed his hands together and started focusing his chakra. "Release!" After breaking free from the genjutsu, Kimimaro could her footsteps coming from behind. He quickly turned around and stuck his sword into Sakura's chest. Kimimaro smiled as he looked upon his defeated opponent.

However, Sakura's body that he just stabbed faded away. "Another genjutsu?" noted a surprised Kimimaro. Suddenly he struck overhead by Sakura's foot, plowing him into the ground.

"Don't underestimate me!" she shouted to him as she stood on top of him. Kimimaro swung his sword at her but Sakura jumped away just in time.

'She performed one genjutsu on top of another genjutsu,' observed Kimimaro as he got up on his feet again. 'Something like that takes a great degree of chakra control well beyond that of the standard genjutsu user.'

"You have talent I will grant you that," Kimimaro said to Sakura. "But I can't afford to waste my time on you. Lord Orochimaru is waiting." Kimimaro then rushed for Sakura with great speed. "Camellia Dance!" Sakura tried to get out range but his movements were too quick to avoid. Kimimaro then proceeded to deliver a series of slashes to Sakura, slicing through her body and clothes. When he had stopped, there were a large number of cuts all over Sakura's body and throughout her dress; she was dripping blood all over. "You're lucky to be alive. It's unusual for me to miss a vital organ with that attack. But then again, my strength is not currently at its peak."

Sakura stood there in pain, covering the cuts on her body with her hands. 'What do I do? He's too strong for me to handle on my own. But I have to do something if I am going to buy Naruto as much time as possible. I need more power if I am going to keep him here. But how?' Suddenly, as the sting from her injuries increased, Sakura was struck by inspiration. 'That's it!' Sakura reached into her holster wrapped around her leg and pulled a kunai out of it.

"You cannot be serious," said Kimimaro. "Do you really think an ordinary is going to have any effect on me?"

"It's not meant for you," replied Sakura. She held the kunai in her right hand and stabbed herself in her left shoulder.

Kimimaro was astounded by what he saw. 'What the hell is she doing?'

Sakura began to repeatedly stab her shoulder; blood was dripping from under her sleeve down her arm. As she stabbed herself, her eyes began to change colors to red and black.

'I see what she's doing,' observed Kimimaro. 'She's using the pain to stimulate her anger and increase her power. A desperate move but a clever one nonetheless.'

Sakura threw away the kunai that was soaked in her own blood. At this point she was seething with rage. She placed her hands together prepared to make the next move. "Paralysis Genjutsu!"

Suddenly, Kimimaro was unable to move his body. 'She's using the paralysis genjutsu. This won't hold me here.' He then focused on stopping the flow of chakra in his body to cancel out Sakura's genjutsu. "Release!" However, Kimimaro was still unable to move his body. 'Damn it! It seems she was able to increase the power of her genjutsu with that ability.'

"I won't let you dodge me this time!" Sakura shouted as she charged for Kimimaro. She run up to him and delivered a powerful punch into his chest, sending him flying across the field. Sakura was not about to give up her advantage and charged for him again before he could recover.

Kimimaro was laying on the ground spitting up blood. 'This girl's power is unreal,' thought Kimimaro as he quickly tried to collect himself. 'I guess I don't have a choice.' With that Kimimaro activated his curse mark which began to spread all over his chest. "Larch Dance!" Multiple bones began popping up all over his body. As Sakura ran up to deliver another blow, the bones in Kimimaro's chest absorbed the force of her punch.

"I think it's time we calmed you down," said Kimimaro who then plowed the bones protruding from his left arm into Sakura's right side. Sakura screamed out in pain as Kimimaro pierced her body. With this attack, Sakura's body was becoming weaker; she had already lost a fair amount of blood. The power from the emotional energy was waning to as her eyes reverted back to normal. "Your strength is impressive, but it's time to bring this to an end." Kimimaro grew a sharp bone out of his right palm and was preparing to drive it into Sakura's face. "Now die!"

However, before the final blow was struck, a flurry of sand appeared between Sakura and Kimimaro and blew them apart. As Sakura fell backwards, she found herself being carried by sand.

'This jutsu,' Sakura thought. 'Could it be?'

Just then, Sakura was laid on the ground at the feet of Gaara of the Desert.

"Who are you?" inquired Kimimaro.

"Allies of the Leaf Village," answered Gaara. "We're shinobi of the Sand."

_(The fight between Gaara and Kimimaro is basically the same here as in the canon.)_


	7. The Fading Sound

Inside the bedroom of his hideout, Orochimaru was lying there, experiencing more and more pain as time went by. Kabuto sat by his bedside administering him whatever medicine he had to make the pain more bearable. Orochimaru was running out of time; since his current host's body would die off and him with unless he transferred to a new body soon. However, the Sannin was determined to hold out as long as he had to in order to wait for Sasuke's arrival. Whatever difficulties the Sound Ninja Four were facing that caused their lateness, Orochimaru knew would not be an issue now that Kimimaro had gone out to retrieve Sasuke. Kabuto held a bottle of medicine to his master's mouth and began pouring it down his throat.

"Lord Orochimaru," said Kabuto after the medicine was all gone. "You cannot keep this up any longer. Your body is already well past its limits; the only thing sustaining you right now is pure willpower. I have already selected several candidates for you to make the transfer to. Please, my lord, I implore to see reason."

Orochimaru panted heavily from the extreme level of fatigue he was forcing himself to endure. "I must have Sasuke's body. There is no other alternative for me. Right now the Uchiha's powers are within my grasp; he is so close I can't taste it. Besides, now that you sent Kimimaro out there, there is little need to worry. He will not fail me, especially with what little life he has left in that dying body of his."

Kabuto realized that his master was beyond reason at the moment. He had become so disillusioned by the prospect of possessing the Sharingan that he was willing to undergo any means of torture to get it. "Very well then," he consented as he stood up. "But we can only afford to wait one more hour; we are already cutting it close enough as it is. I will retrieve a vessel for you to make a last minute transfer to if it comes to that. But when this hour is up, you have to make do with what we have or else you will die from your own stubbornness. Is that understood?"

Orochimaru hated the fact that his own assistant was talking to him as if their roles had been reversed; this was evident as he gritted his teeth. Nevertheless, he knew Kabuto was right and that he would end up losing everything he had worked so hard for if he waited too long. He could not just throw away his dreams of unraveling the mysteries behind the world they lived in, even if it meant postponing his reincarnation. "Fine," said Orochimaru. "If he does not arrive in one hour then I will make do with a temporary vessel. Leave me until then."

"Very well, my lord" said Kabuto as he turned to leave to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

After Kabuto had left, Orochimaru continued to bear with the pain as he kept telling himself 'Just a little longer. Just a little longer.'

Outside the hideout, meanwhile, Orochimaru's men were patrolling the parameter for any sign of Sasuke or the Sound Ninja Four. A group of six ninja were regrouping only to report that they had found nothing.

"We have to continue keeping our eyes open for any sign of them," the leader said. "Return to your positions and if you see Sasuke Uchiha or the others send word back immediately of their arrival. Lord Orochimaru only has one hour before he has to make the transfer. We cannot fail him now."

Just then, they heard rustling in a nearby bush. They quickly turned towards the direction of the noise and pulled out their kunai so as to be prepared for anything.

"Who there?" inquired the leader to the mysterious noisemaker. "Show yourself!"

Slowly, a man wearing a black hooded cloak slowly emerged from the bush and stepped towards the Sound ninja.

"Who are you?" the leader asked again. "What business do you have hear?"

The man then started to slowly raise his right arm and point it directly at the ninja. All of a sudden, several black spears were fired under his sleeve and instantly killed five of the ninja. The only one left alive was the leader, who was petrified with fear at the sight of his comrades being butchered in the blink of an eye. The black spears lodged in the bodies of the dead ninja then turned into smoke and vanished; this only served to freak out the one survivor even more. Black smoke then started emit from the killer's right sleeve and solidified as it took the form of a long arm. This arm lunged forward, grabbed the Sound ninja leader by the neck, and pulled him towards the cloaked man.

'What the hell this?!' wondered the frightened ninja. 'This stuff…it feels as cold as ice! What the hell is it made of?!' The cloaked man was now holding the ninja right in front of his face; all the ninja could make out was that the man had goatee of brown hair. At this close a distance, the ninja could feel some kind fowl chakra coming from this man. "What the hell do you want?!" the ninja said consumed by fear. The man then lifted his left hand and placed it on the ninja's chest. "What is this?! What are you doing?!" But the cloaked man didn't answer. After several seconds or so, the ninja could see the cloaked man smiling. Suddenly, the black hand holding the ninja by the neck began to tighten as it began to choke him. In a few seconds, the man had suffocated. The cloaked man then dropped the ninja's lifeless corpse on the ground and proceeded to continue forward leaving the dead ninja behind him.

At the front of the entrance to the hideout, two more Sound ninja were standing guard. Suddenly, two large black snakes appeared from behind a tree and started crawling towards the two ninja. The two men, surprised by these strange snakes, threw their kunai at them but missed. The snakes then lunged for the ninja, biting them repeatedly until they were dead. The cloaked man then come out from behind the tree and approached the hideout's entrance with the two snakes disappearing as he passed them. As the man stood before the doorway, he chuckled to himself, "It's time to put this snake out of his misery, once and for all." The man then entered the hideout to hunt for his prey.

Orochimaru was lying in his bed, tossing and turning all while trying to blot the pain out of his mind. The thought of obtaining the perfect vessel was the only thing driving him right now; he was willing to go through hell to get his hands on it. With his time running out, Orochimaru was growing weaker and weaker by the minute. Soon he would have no choice but to transfer his soul before Sasuke arrived. All he could was lay there and pray that his suffering would not be for nothing. As Orochimaru lay there, the door to his bedroom suddenly creaked open.

"Kabuto, is that you?" Orochimaru asked. "I told you not to disturb me until our hour was up. There is still some left so don't trouble until it's over!"

The person behind the door did not answer him back. From behind the door, a black tentacle creeped in through the crack. Orochimaru was unsure of what he was seeing; he first believed that the pain had made him delirious. Suddenly, the tentacle lunged at Orochimaru wrapped itself around his body. The door then slowly opened to reveal the cloaked man behind it. The man approached Orochimaru's bed with the black tentacle coming out of his right sleeve.

"Who are you suppose to be?!" inquired Orochimaru.

"It doesn't matter how you address me because you are going to be dead soon," the man replied. "But if you're that curious, you can call Ragnarok." Ragnarok then removed his hood to reveil his face to the bound Sannin.

"What do you think you're doing here, Mr. Ragnarok?!" Orochimaru asked. "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with here?!"

"I understand exactly who I am dealing with here," Ragnarok answered. "You certainly created quite a mess of things during the Chunin Exams. You even managed to kill two of the five Kage. A most impressive feat I believe. And now you are trying to take the Uchiha's powers. I've decided it's too dangerous to let you go around doing whatever you feel like. You're like a rabid dog; there no telling who you might bite. You could even end up biting me if I'm not careful. In order to avoid that possibility, one has put down the dog before he can infect anyone else with the disease coursing through his body."

After Ragnarok finished talking, black spikes protruded from the tentacle wrapped around Orochimaru's body, penetrating his flesh. After Orochimaru was stabbed, the size of his mouth increased and another Orochimaru crawled out of it without any damage to his body. 'So this must be Orochimaru's Substitution Jutsu,' thought Ragnarok as he watched his opponent regurgitate himself. Free from Ragnarok's grasp, Orochimaru regurgitated his Snake Sword from his mouth. He then stretched his neck and lunged for Ragnarok. With his right hand occupied, Ragnarok created a black sword in his left hand and used it deflect Orochimaru's attack, forcing him to strike the floor instead.

"How exactly do you plan on fighting me in your condition?" asked Ragnarok. "Not only can you not use any of your jutsu, but your body is as weak as that of dying child. You've also sent away your strongest body guards so no one is here to protect you. There is no hope for you now."

Orochimaru retracted his neck to his body. He knew he was at an enormous disadvantage. 'This man,' he thought. 'It's as if he was waiting for this moment to strike, when I was at was at my most vulnerable. He also knew that Sakon and the others were sent away. Who the devil is he?!" As he thought, the pain in Orochimaru's body was eating away at him from the inside out. 'I am in no condition to fight like this. I have to get away from him.' Orochimaru leaped rushed toward Ragnarok with his Snake Sword sticking out of his mouth. The Sannin swung his head around in an attempt to slash at Ragnarok, who blocked it with the black sword in his right hand. Orochimaru, using whatever strength he had left in this vessel, put as much pressure on the Snake Sword as he could, pushing Ragnarok to the side and out of the way of the exit. As Orochimaru made for the doorway, it became blocked by some blocked by some kind of black smoke-like substance. Orochimaru then saw that this stuff was being emitted from Ragnarok's body. He attempted to cut his way through this mysterious substance with the Snake Sword, but when he slashed at it the sword become lodged in the black substance. 'This stuff is solidifying, just like before!' thought Orochimaru as he thought back to the tentacle and the sword. 'He's able to release this chakra from his body and shape and manipulate it according to his will.' Orochimaru tried to dislodge the sword from the black substance, but it wouldn't budge. The substance then started to quickly engulf the sword and was crawling down it to Orochimaru. Knowing he had no alternative, Orochimaru disconnected the sword from his mouth and jumped to the back of the room to get away from that stuff.

Ragnarok laughed as he walked towards the Snake Sword and pulled it out of the black matter. "Did you really think you could escape from me?" he asked. "You will not leave here alive, I promise you that." As he said those words, more of that black substance was being released from Ragnarok's body and was spreading across the entire room. It covered the floor, walls, and ceiling and was heading straight for Orochimaru, who felt cold shivers running up his spin. As he became completely surrounded by the black substance, it began to engulf his body. As it touched him, Orochimaru felt as if he was lying naked in the snow during a blizzard. As the substance covered his body, Orochimaru tried to break free but to no avail. Then he started to feel himself growing weaker, as if this stuff was draining him of whatever strength he had left.

"What is this stuff?!" Orochimaru asked. "What are you doing to me?!"

"The darkness that holds you is now draining you of your chakra," answered Ragnarok. "It seems as if slashing and stabbing away body won't work on that twisted body of yours, so instead I am consuming every last drop of chakra you have until there is nothing left. Once all of your chakra has been drained, the darkness will rip your soul from your body piece by piece. I can't promise such a process to be quick and painless."

"Darkness?!" inquired Orochimaru with disbelief in his eyes. "You're saying this black substance is darkness?!" Orochimaru frantically pondered over what Ragnarok said as his chakra levels was completely depleted. "No! It can't be! Are telling me you're one of the…?" But before he could finish his sentence, Orochimaru let out a loud scream of pain as his soul was being absorbed from his body. His cry ran throughout the entire hideout.

Kabuto, who was on his way back to Orochimaru's room, heard his master's scream.

"Lord Orochimaru!" he cried as he started running as fast as he could. "Don't tell me his body has already completely rejected his soul! There should have been more time!"

Kabuto arrived outside Orochimaru's room to find that the door was open. He slowly began to approach the doorway so as to avoid being killed by his master's indiscriminating bloodlust. "Lord Orochimaru?" he asked. No response. Kabuto peaked inside of the room and was shocked by the sight he saw: Orochimaru lay there dead while another man stood before him holding Orochimaru's Snake Sword. "What…what is going on?" asked Kabuto who was petrified with fear from what he just saw. "Who are you?! What have you done?!"

Ragnarok turned towards Kabuto and laughed. "I think you know full well what I've done," he replied. "I performed a public service and killed this monster." Upon hearing these words, Kabuto was unable to breathe.

Ragnarok then turned and made his way to the doorway. As he passed Kabuto, Ragnarok stopped and placed his hand on Kabuto shoulder. After a minute, Ragnarok smiled.

"I sense a great degree of conflict inside of you, my boy," Ragnarok said to him. "To be unsure of who you are or what your purpose in this world is truly a terrifying thing to imagine. I see that my 'killing of Orochimaru' only served to strengthen those internal conflicts, hasn't it?" Kabuto fell to his knees, unsure of what to make of everything that was going on. "Serve me, Kabuto Yakushi, and I will give you a place to belong to," Ragnarok continued with his hand still on his shoulder. "I will create for you a purpose to which you can dedicate yourself to. I will allow you to continue Orochimaru's work under my protection; it would be a crime to let such knowledge go to waste. What say you?"

Kabuto was silent. With his master dead, there wasn't anyone who needed him anymore. While he saw the benefits of joining this man, the shock from everything that had transpired made it difficult for him to fully process it all.

"I will give you a minute to think about it," said Ragnarok. He then walked out of the room leaving Kabuto knelling before Orochimaru's lifeless corpse.

Outside of the bedroom in the corridor, Ragnarok saw numerous other Sound ninja who were also drawn by Orochimaru's death cry. Each one of them was paralyzed with fear as the man who killed their master stood before them. Ragnarok just smiled at this.

"Shinobi of the Sound Village," he began. "I am Ragnarok, lord of the Hidden Shadow Village. Do not despair over your master's death because it has enabled me to present you all with this opportunity. You do not have to retain whatever pitiful existence you were living before Orochimaru found you. Join me and my Shadow Village and you will all bask in power and glory that I will one day attain. Fight for me and one day you will be able to live like kings for eternity. For amongst you serve?"

One by one, the Sound ninja fell to their knees before Ragnarok as a sign of their newly sworn allegiance to him. Ragnarok was jumping with joy on the inside as he looked before his newest disciples.

"I will serve, on one condition," said a voice from behind. Ragnarok turned around to see Kabuto had left the bedroom and was now standing before him. "Give me Lord Orochimaru's body."

"Done," said Ragnarok.

Kabuto then kneeled before Ragnarok along with the other Sound ninja. "Thank you, Lord Ragnarok."

"This is my first command to all of you," Ragnarok said to all around. "Inform all of the prisoners in here of what just transpired here. Tell them that if they want their freedom, they must swear their allegiance to me or else they will be left in their cages to rot. Once all the prisoners and the remaining shinobi have agreed to join us, secure all of Orochimaru's research and data and prepare it for transport. We will be leaving this base as soon as I have reaped every last bit of fruit this basket has to offer. Come all of you, there is much work to be done here."


	8. The Awakening of the Sharingan

Sasuke, still fatigued from his previous fight with Naruto, stumbled through the forest as he made his way to the Sound Village. After several hours of walking, he finally arrived at the hideout. Sasuke walked down the stairs and through the entrance without a single moment of hesitation. As he walked through the corridor, Sasuke came across several Sound ninja who were carrying multiple large scrolls. As they were transporting their loads, the ninja turned and saw Sasuke standing at the other end of the hall.

"Who's there? Who are you?" asked one of the ninja.

Sasuke approached the ninja; as he came closer, the ninja realized who he was.

"Where's Orochimaru?" inquired Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Ragnarok was overseeing that all of Orochimaru's research and experiments were being sealed up and ready for their departure while Kabuto was at his side. Ragnarok now had Orochimaru's Snake Sword lodged under his belt. All around him, Sound ninja were collecting files of data and sealing them into large scrolls to make them easier for transport.

"Kabuto, did Orochimaru keep records on the number of ninja and prisoners he had as well as their abilities?" asked Ragnarok.

"Yes, sir," replied Kabuto. "We have full records on each of Orochimaru's subordinates. I in fact was in charge maintaining them."

"Excellent," said Ragnarok. "I want full access to those files so that I know exactly how many ninja are joining us as well as what they are capable of. After we are finished her we will have make our way to the other hideouts and recruit every shinobi that is there as well secure whatever research there is. We cannot afford to let one scrap of knowledge and power go to waste." Ragnarok felt a great sense of pride running through him as he looked upon all the shinobi and information that could be used to further his ultimate goal.

Just then, a ninja appeared using the Teleportation Justu and kneeled before Ragnarok.

"Lord Ragnarok," he said. "I am sorry to interrupt, but something urgent has just come up. Sasuke Uchiha has just arrived at the base. What do you wish to do?

This did not come as a surprise to Ragnarok. He was fully aware of Orochimaru's plans and knew that his bodyguards would likely return with Sasuke, meaning that it would be something he had to deal with when the time came.

"Did Orochimaru's subordinates return with him," Ragnarok asked the ninja.

"No sir," he replied. "We asked the Uchiha this and he said they're all dead."

Ragnorak stood there for a moment as he pondered the situation: the Sharingan was in his hands and there wasn't anyone to stop him.

"Take me to him. I want to see him," he answered. "Kabuto, you remain here and make sure everything continues to run smoothly. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord," replied Kabuto.

Ragnarok was then led by the ninja to another room in the hideout. When he opened the door, Ragnarok saw Sasuke sitting in a chair in the center of the room while surrounded by several Sound ninja. Sasuke had his arms folded and seemed to be very irritated as he looked upon Ragnarok.

"Let me guess, you must Ragnarok," Sasuke said. "You've got a lot of nerve coming in here and destroying chance of obtaining the power I need. You owe me big for that." Ragnarok just gazed at him.

"Leave us," he said to the ninja. "Get back to work. I will deal with this." With that, the ninja left the room, leaving Ragnarok alone with Sasuke. Ragnarok went to the side of the room and picked up another chair, placed it in front of Sasuke, and sat down in front of him. As he looked at Sasuke, Ragnarok smiled. "So you're the last of the Uchiha Clan, eh?"

Sasuke continued to stare at Ragnarok with intense hatred. "Did you really kill Orochimaru?" he asked.

"Yes I did," Ragnarok answered.

"Orochimaru promised me power," stated Sasuke. "If you really did kill him that means you have something to offer me. I want power, power that will enable me to kill Itachi and avenge my clan. I want you to give me that power."

Ragnarok chuckled after hearing. "I am under no obligation to give you anything, boy. Why should I submit to your request?"

"I don't know who the hell you are or what you're after," Sasuke said. "But I know I have something every village in the world would kill to get their hands on: my Sharingan. There are only two Uchiha left in the entire world. How could you pass on something as rare as that?"

"You're right," replied Ragnarok. "The Sharingan is an incredibly valuable weapon to have in one's arsenal. However, I could just simply kill you and pry those eyes out of your skull. What reason is there for me to take you in?" Sasuke sat there unflustered by Ragnarok's comment about killing him.

"Sure, you could kill me and take my eyes," Sasuke began. "But I promise you that whoever you give my eyes to will never be able to unlock the Sharingan's true potential."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Ragnarok.

"My hatred of my brother is what drives me," answered Sasuke. "This hatred that I feel for him is what will push me to obtaining the power I need to destroy him. You can take my eyes, but my hatred is not something you can imitate."

"Ah yes, I can feel the hatred flowing within your soul," said Ragnarok. "There is no denying your hatred is strong, but I would like to see just how strong that hatred really is. Let me see your hand."

"Why?" inquired Sasuke.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you," assured Ragnarok. "I just want to understand the extent of your hatred. Please."

Sasuke was unsure of what this man was going to do. Nevertheless, he took a leap of faith and extended his hand to Ragnarok, who then took a hold of Sasuke's hand with both of his own hands. Ragnarok closed his eyes as he felt Sasuke's hand. 'What in the world is this man doing?' Sasuke wondered. After a few minutes, Ragnarok finally spoke.

"My, my, my," he said. "Your hatred truly is powerful. I haven't sensed hate so strong since that of my own apprentice. I am curious about one thing though: if your hatred of Itachi is so strong, why didn't you kill your best friend?"

Sasuke was dumbfounded to here Ragnarok say this. "How the hell did you know about that?' he asked.

"You are not the only one blessed with gifts," Ragnarok stated. "My gift is rather unique like your Sharingan. I have the ability to read people's souls. I have the power to hear the voices of a person's heart so I can understand what is driving him to say the things he says or do things he does. When come into physical contact with a person, I am able to see all of his memories in his soul that made him the person he has become. Every thought and feeling you've ever had in your life is there in your soul for me to see; there are no secrets that can be hidden from me. I know what Itachi told you about the Mangekyo Sharingan and that you must kill your best friend to obtain that power. But if you are so determined to get that power to kill Itachi, why didn't you kill Naruto at the Final Valley?"

Sasuke was in total shock by the fact that this man whom he just met was able to learn so much about him just by touching him. "I didn't kill him because I couldn't stand the thought of achieving that power the same way as Itachi did. I have committed myself to obtaining the power to kill Itachi, but by my own means, not by his."

"Bold words, child," said Ragnarok. "However, I have heard stories about the Mangekyo Sharingan. Forgive me but I can't see you surpassing Itachi unless you obtain those special eyes for yourself. It seems that there is only one way to obtain that power according to Itachi." Sasuke turned his head away from Ragnarok with disdain. "Well, what if I told you there might be another way to obtain that power?" Sasuke quickly turned his head back towards Ragnarok and looked at him with disbelief.

"What you when another way?!" asked Sasuke. "What do you know about the Uchiha?!"

"Calm yourself, boy," Ragnarok said. "It merely a hypothesis I developed after seeing what you know about the Mangekyo Sharingan. I cannot guarantee that it will work, but I say it might be worth a try. That is, if you're willing."

"Tell me about this hypothesis of yours," demanded Sasuke. "What exactly do you plan on doing?"

"Based on what I have seen in your soul, it appears that the Mangekyou Sharingan is a very genetic trait among the Uchiha," Ragnarok started out. "However, it seems simply possessing this trait is not enough to access its power. In order to activate it, an Uchiha must undergo some sort of very strong emotional change, similar to how an ordinary Sharingan will only activate in response to intense emotion in life-threatening scenarios. It seems that Itachi was able to experience this change in emotion when he killed Shisui. My hypothesis is that in order activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, the soul must be in sync with the body. Fortunately for you, not only do I have the power to read souls, but I can also manipulate them to make them feel whatever I want. If I can adjust the wavelength of your soul to the required frequency, I might be able to create the emotions necessary to activate the Mangekyou Sharingan. What do you say to that, my boy?"

Sasuke got up out of his chair and walked to the back of them room so as to process everything. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This man might actually possess the ability to unlock the power he has long sought. Sasuke was fully aware that this man was not all talk; not only did he kill Orochimaru but he also was able to find out possibly everything about his own life. This was the chance he had been looking for. With Orochimaru dead, Sasuke knew he had no one else to turn to.

Sasuke turned back towards Ragnarok and consented, "Alright, let's do it."

"Very well, but on one condition," Ragnarok said. "If this works and your Mangekyo Sharingan activates, I want your permission to remove Orochimaru's curse mark from your body."

Sasuke was taken slightly by surprise with this request. "Why? Why do you want to remove the curse mark?"

"Based on what I've seen in Orochimaru's test subjects here and in you, the curse mark uses Orochimaru's chakra to corrode the mind and soul of those who bear it. I cannot afford to have someone unstable within my ranks; it leaves the door open for possible betrayal. Aside from that, however, I do not see any reason why you would betray me. An alliance between the two of us would be mutually beneficial. Do we have an agreement?"

Sasuke thought hard about this as he placed his hand on his neck where the curse mark was. As he saw with his battle with Naruto, the curse mark gives him an incredible boast in power. Nevertheless, he felt the negative side effects of having the curse mark activated for too long. This was his one chance to possess the same power as Itachi, which was the first step to surpassing him. He had to decide whether the Mangekyo Sharingan was worth giving up the curse mark.

"Fine," agreed Sasuke. "But you can only remove the curse mark if your little hypothesis works."

"Very well," said Ragnarok. "Step forward and stand in front of me please."

Sasuke did as Ragnarok requested. When Sasuke stood before him, Ragnarok placed his hand on Sasuke's chest and began adjusting the wavelength of his soul. After a few minutes, nothing had happened. Sasuke was beginning to lose hope.

'I must be an idiot for believing that this guy could unlock my power' Sasuke thought to himself.

"I am trying to find the right wavelength, boy," said Ragnarok. "It's not as easy as you may think. Try to be a little patient."

Initially surprised, Sasuke remembered that this man was capable of reading what people are feeling. He allowed Ragnarok to continue doing what he was doing.

"Wait a minute, I think I found something," said Ragnarok. "I feel a slight change in the nature of your chakra. I must be getting close to the right frequency."

As Ragnarok continued, Sasuke could feel his chakra getting stronger. All of a sudden, Sasuke's Sharingan activated and he felt an enormous surge of energy running through his eyes. Sasuke backed away from Ragnarok and put his hands over his eyes as he tried to deal with the surge. After he grew accustomed to it, Sasuke removed his hands from over his eyes and stared at Ragnarok.

"Well, what happened?" asked Sasuke. "Did it work?"

As he looked at Sasuke, Ragnarok was speechless. The pattern of Sasuke's Sharingan had completely changed. His eyes possessed patterns centrifugally aligned along the pupils with three intersecting ellipses that resembled an atom model. Ragnarok picked up his Snake Sword and handed it to Sasuke.

"See for yourself," he said to the Uchiha.

Sasuke looked at his reflection in the sword's blade and saw the change that his Sharingan had undergone.

'Is this…is this the Mangekyo Sharingan?' Sasuke asked himself. He could not believe what he was seeing. He could feel the power running throughout his body.

After letting Sasuke enjoy his moment for a minute, Ragnarok stood up and walked towards Sasuke. "I've held up my end of the bargain, now it's your turn." Ragnarok placed his hand on Sasuke's neck where the curse mark was. As soon as he touched his body, Sasuke felt Ragnarok's hand become so cold. As Ragnarok was extracting the curse mark's chakra, Sasuke felt to his knees. After a few more moments, Ragnarok removed his hand from Sasuke's body and the curse mark had vanished. Sasuke lay on the floor exhausted as his Sharingan receded.

"Wait here," Ragnarok said. "I will get some medical ninja to take a look at you. We'll be relocating to my base in the Land of Dragons. I want to leave this base as soon as possible so you won't have too much time to rest here. I want to make sure you are fully recovered by the time we get there so that I can observe the power of those eyes firsthand."

Ragnarok left the room to find a medic while Sasuke pulled himself. Sasuke started laughing at the prospect of having finally obtained the power he had sought for so long.

"Brother," he said. "Can you feel it? I now possess the same eyes as you do."


	9. Rensho Atsumori

_(Note: I did not write the song, it is an old American folk song) _

After traveling with them for a few days, Ragnarok was leading Sasuke, Kabuto, and Orochimaru's former subordinates and prisoners to his base in the Land of Dragons. They were hiking up a path along the side of a mountain within which Ragnarok's hideout was located. Ragnarok was in the front with Sasuke and Kabuto following close behind while hundreds of former Sound ninja came up after him. Sasuke was wearing a green blue robe to replace his tattered shirt.

"So I am guessing this Shadow Village of yours isn't real village, is it?" commented Kabuto as he walked up beside Ragnarok.

"True, the structure of my organization is similar to your Sound Village," answered Ragnarok as he continued walking. "Rather than an actual village, the Shadow Village is more of a confederacy of shinobi that are given a place to belong to. It has existed for quite some time now; it was originally founded during the last Great Shinobi War. Since then, however, it has only operated in the shadows so as to avoid drawing the attention of the Five Great Nations and enable us to build up strength while hiding."

"If keeping your existence secret is so important to you, then why did you come out of hiding now?" asked Kabuto.

"As a child grows up, he won't be able to continue hiding under his blanket for much longer," Ragnarok replied. "It was only several years ago that we were able to achieve a vast increase in wealth that made it possible for us to expand considerably. The number of shinobi in our ranks has dramatically increased and we were able to construct multiple bases in several other countries; our potential was bound to become evident to other nations eventually. Besides, we could not afford to pass up the opportunity to eliminate Orochimaru when he was so vulnerable. Revealing our presence in the world is a small price to pay for the removal of such a hindrance as well as the acquisition of the Sound Village's resources."

"How exactly were you able to find our hideout and coordinate you assassination so perfectly?" inquired Kabuto even further. "You had to have been spying on us for quite some time; the circumstances were too perfect for it to be coincidence."

"Well aren't you the sharp one, Kabuto?" Ragnarok said as he smirked at him. "You remember those Sound genin Orochimaru sent to the Leaf Village during the Chunin Exams? I sensed the betrayal they felt after Orochimaru threw them to Sasuke like meat to dogs. It was rather easy for me to persuade them to join me in exchange for helping them achieve revenge on the master who betrayed them. Not only did they provide me with the location of the headquarters in the Land of Rice Paddies but they also gave me intelligence on many of his experiments there, including the curse marks. Ever since the attack on the Leaf Village, I have been sending my darkness in the form of small creatures into his base to collect intelligence on Orochimaru's condition and his future efforts. This is how I found out about how long he had left before his body gave out and his plan to send his strongest ninja to retrieve Sasuke for him."

"You don't skip over any detail, I see," noted Kabuto. "I would expect no less from the man who killed Lord Orochimaru. What happened to Dosu and the others?"

"They were relocated to another facility of mine," Ragnarok answered. "I think it is for the best that they don't cross paths with Sasuke just yet."

As they were talking, Sasuke had no interest at all in their conversation. He was too busy focusing on the first chance he would get to use his Mangekyo Sharingan.

The group continued along the path until they reached the end where there was a large iron doorway in the side of the mountain with great gates. Ragnarok stepped before the gates, placed his hand on it, and began running his chakra through it. As he did this, the locks on the gate unfastened and the gate opened. Ragnarok led the group through the gate into the hideout. Inside there were numerous Shadow ninja standing around; their attire consisted of long-sleeved black tunics, long black pants, black scarves covering the faces, black turbans, and silver colored armored plating on the chests, shoulders, and arms. As soon as Ragnarok entered, all the Shadow ninja inside kneeled before him to welcome back their master. From within the group, an elderly man in his early 70s wearing a white tunic, long purple pants, and a maroon jacket that went all the way down to his knees. His white hair was parted to his left side and he sported a short beard from sideburns all the way down to his chin. The old man stepped towards the forefront of the group and kneeled before Ragnarok.

"My Lord Ragnarok," the old man said as he went down on his knee. "It is so good that you have returned to us. I trust that you mission was a success."

"Indeed it was, Gozen," Ragnarok replied. "Orochimaru will no longer be a concern of ours nor anyone else's. In addition, all of Orochimaru's servants and knowledge are ours now." Ragnarok then turned to his subordinates. "Please take these in these Sound ninja and show them our ways. Also place these scrolls in a secure place; they hold all of Orochimaru's research and data." The Shadow ninja got up off the ground and started leading the Sound ninja through the halls of the base. "Gozen, I want you to catalog all the information in the scrolls and bring it to me when you are finished. This is Orochimaru's former right hand man, Kabuto Yakushi. He will assist you."

"As you wish, sir," said Gozen as he got up on his feet, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kabuto."

"The pleasure is all mine," smirked Kabuto.

Ragnarok looked at Sasuke who was unmoved by everything that was going on. He then turned back to Gozen who was preparing to head off with Kabuto.

"Gozen, where is Rensho at the moment?" he asked.

"He is in his room right now, my lord," Gozen answered.

"Before you dive into the Sound Village's data, go to Rensho and tell him I want him to meet me in the sparring room," Raganrok said.

"Very well," Gozen headed off down the corridor while Kabuto went with the ninja carrying the scrolls.

"Sasuke, follow me," Ragnarok said as he led Sasuke down a different corridor. "I hope you are not too tired, my boy. I would prefer you to be fully rested before you go off testing those new eyes of yours."

"I'm fine," scoffed Sasuke. "I don't need any rest. I have enough energy to take down anyone I want."

"That is very reassuring," Ragnarok said with a smile. "You will have a spare match with my apprentice Rensho. During this fight, you will have the opportunity to unleash the full power of your Mangekyo Sharingan. And don't worry; Rensho will provide you with the fight you desire."

"I wouldn't call it a spare match if I were to use my Mangekyo Sharingan," said Sasuke. "There is a good chance this apprentice of yours may die."

"Rensho is not one that can be killed so easily, I promise you that," Ragnarok firmly stated. "But it is a good thing that you have no intention of showing any mercy because he will show you none."

Sasuke continued to walk with Ragnarok, neither afraid of nor intimidated by this Rensho whom Ragnarok spoke very highly of.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the base, laid a young boy on a bed in a dark room. As he laid there, he was singing:

"_On the lake where drooped the willow, long time ago,_

_Where the rock threw back the billow, brighter than snow._

_Dwelt a maid be loved and cherished, by high and low,_

_But with autumn's leaf she perished, long time ago._

_Rock and tree and flowing water, long time ago,_

_Bird and be and blossom taught her, love's spell to know._

_While to my found words she listened, murmuring low,_

_Tenderly her blue eyes glistened, long time ago."_

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" asked the boy as he stopped singing.

"Lord Rensho, its Gozen. Lord Ragnarok has returned and wishes to see you in the sparring room at once."

"Why? What does he want?" asked Rensho.

"He didn't tell me," Gozen replied. "But he was heading there with another young boy about your age. Possibly on of Orochimaru's former subordinates."

Rensho took a deep breath, swung his legs over the bedside, and stood up. "Very well. I will meet with him."

Ragnarok and Sasuke continued down the corridor until they reached to large doors at the end of the hall. Ragnarok opened the doors and the two of them entered the sparring room, which was simply a large empty room with torches on the side of the walls. There was another pair of doors on the side of the room opposite from where Ragnarok and Sasuke entered. The two of them crossed to the center of the room.

"So where is this great apprentice?" asked Sasuke impatiently.

"Calm yourself. He should be here soon," reassured Ragnarok.

A minute later, the doors on the other side of the room opened. Through the doors entered a young boy around the same age as Sasuke. He had straight light brown hair and aqua eyes. He wore a teal long-sleeved poncho with a blue sash, blue long pants, and a Shadow Village headband on a black cloth around his forehead. He had a stern expression on his face as he walked towards Sasuke and Ragnarok. When he stood before the pair, he kneeled before them.

"You summoned me, Master?" the boy said.

"Yes I did," he replied. "Sasuke, this is my apprentice: Rensho Atsumori." Sasuke did not think much of him as he looked at him. "Rise, my apprentice." Rensho stood up before his master. "Rensho, may I present Sasuke Uchiha."

"I wasn't expecting this," Rensho confessed as he bowed his head to Sasuke. "It's an honor to meet someone of your reputation." Sasuke merely scoffed at this. As he lifted his head up, Rensho's expression grew slightly irritated. "I thought you simply went out to kill that snake in grass."

"Oh I did," assured Ragnarok. "But my mission forced my path to cross with Sasuke's here. He will be with us for a while and I want to fully understand the limits of his abilities. You will fight him here and now. Do you have any objections to this?"

Rensho simply smiled and said, "None at all, Master."

"I hope that you are prepared for this, Sasuke," said Ragnarok as he turned to him.

Sasuke did not say a word; he just continued starring at his opponent with no thought of mercy in his mind.

Ragnarok turned away from the two of them and head towards the side of the room. "You are free to use any methods you deem necessary to win. I will try to make sure you don't end up killing each other, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't attack with the intent to kill. You may begin on my mark." Ragnarok reached the side and turned around to face the two young ninja, who continued starring at each other. "Begin!"

As Ragnarok gave the green light, Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan; he did not want to activate his Mangekyo Sharingan before he understood what his opponent was capable of. Rensho rushed for Sasuke preparing to deliver a blow with his right fist. Sasuke easily saw this coming and caught his fist with his left hand. Rensho then retaliated by swinging left leg up towards Sasuke, who ducked and avoided his attack. Sasuke went on the offense and delivered a kick to Rensho. However, Rensho was able to catch Sasuke's foot and twisted it around, causing Sasuke to spin onto the ground. As Sasuke was down, Rensho moved to deliver a punch but Sasuke flipped himself away from him.

'He's got some taijutsu skill, I'll give him that,' noted Sasuke. 'But if that's all he has I might as well finish this already.'

Rensho charged for Sasuke again. But as Rensho rushed forward, Sasuke used his Sharingan to anticipate his movements and then delivered a swift upper kick to his face. Rensho was sent into the air while Sasuke shadowed him with the Dancing Leaf Shadow.

"You're as good as finished!" Sasuke shouted. He then proceeded to deliver multiple strikes to Rensho, sending him towards and finishing with a hard kick into his stomach. "Lions Barrage!" The impact was so great that the power running through Rensho's body caused the floor to crack.

Rensho simply laid there while Sasuke got to his feet, trying to shrug off the fatigue from that attack. He then looked upon Ragnarok with disgust.

"This is the apprentice you were bragging about?" questioned Sasuke. "He's not even worth wasting my Sharingan on." As Sasuke said this, Ragnarok simply laughed. "What the hell is so funny?"

"It's insulting that you think I could be beaten so easily." Sasuke turned with shock to see Rensho easily getting back up on his feet.

'What just happened?' Sasuke wondered. 'My attacks were solid, yet he's getting up as if nothing happened!'

"Let just say that you're not the only one with unique gifts, Master Uchiha," Rensho said as he turned to face Sasuke. As Rensho faced him, Sasuke could not believe what he was seeing: Rensho's entire head had turned into diamond.

'What…what is that?' wondered a bewildered Sasuke. 'There's not a mark on him!'

"This is my special jutsu," replied Rensho. "I am able to manipulate the structure of the carbon molecules in my body so as to convert my flesh into an indestructible diamond. Since this diamond is created from my chakra, its strength and hardness far exceeds those of ordinary diamond. So you see, you can strike me as many times as you want until the sun goes down, but you can never break. Although, I can't say the same for you." Rensho raised his diamond arms and reshaped them into diamond swords. "Now the real fun can begin."

Rensho charged for Sasuke and began swinging his blades like a madman, attempting to carve up the Uchiha. With the aid of his Sharingan, Sasuke managed to avoid Rensho's attacks. He then pulled out a kunai and started parrying with Rensho's swords. After several blocks, Rensho easily managed to break Sasuke's kunai. Sasuke jumped back, pulled out several shuriken, and threw them at Rensho, but they simply bounced off of his diamond body. Rensho retailiated by aiming his left arm at Sasuke and firing numerous diamond shards at him. Sasuke managed to dodge them but Rensho began chasing him around the room with his volleys of diamond shards. Sasuke, making use of his speed, outran Rensho's barrage and started heading straight for him. Catching this, Rensho fired his shards at Sasuke head on, but the Uchiha was able to dodge them all. Upon getting close enough to Rensho, Sasuke pulled out a paper bomb and stuck it on his opponent's chest. Sasuke jumped away and the bomb went off.

"Got'em!" Sasuke said. As the smoke from the explosion cleared, Rensho stood there unfazed by the attack. His poncho was blown to shreds, but Sasuke could see that there wasn't a single scratch on his diamond body. "How strong is that stuff?!"

"I already told, Master Uchiha," gloated Rensho. "My diamond is indestructible. But my powers aren't just limited to my own body; I can manipulate the carbon in other substances and turn them into diamond as well. Observe." Rensho placed his hands on the rock floor and a stream of diamond spikes started shooting up from the floor and headed straight for Sasuke, who managed to avoid them.

'Let's see how you fair against this!' thought Sasuke as he started weaving hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke shot a fireball from his mouth straight for Rensho, who didn't even try to dodge it. The fireball hit Rensho dead on. As Sasuke gazed at the flames, he saw Rensho walking out of the fire as if it was nothing. "Are you kidding me?! Fire jutsu doesn't work on him either?!"

"Here's a little lesson in chemistry, Sasuke," Rensho began. "Diamond has an incredibly high melting point and is capable of withstanding intense heat. So you see fire jutsu is useless against me."

Rensho raised his right arm and fired a single, enormous, diamond spike from it. Sasuke managed to dodge it but Rensho continued to launch more large spikes at him.

'I'm running out of options here,' Sasuke thought as he was avoiding Rensho's attacks. 'Taijutsu is useless against him and fire jutsu has no effect either. My only other options are the Chidori and the Mangekyo Sharingan. Since I never used that ocular jutsu before, I'll play it safe for now and finish him off quickly.'

Sasuke performed the necessary hand signs and started building up lightning chakra into his left hand, releasing the sound of chirping birds. Rensho momentarily ceased his attacks and gazed at him.

'Ah, I remember that jutsu,' thought Rensho as he recalled Sasuke's fight with Gaara during the Chunin Exams.

With the Chidori ready, Sasuke charged for Rensho while Rensho shaped his right arm into a sword and charged back at him. As they were right on top of each other, Rensho swung his sword at Sasuke. However, Sasuke managed to dodge it with his Sharingan. With Rensho left open, Sasuke jabbed his Chidori into Rensho's chest.

For a moment, everything was silent and still. Ragnarok was looking on from the sidelines enjoying the spectacle that stood before him. Rensho stood there in front of Sasuke silently while Sasuke stood there with his Chidori jammed into Rensho's body, wondering if this attack did him in.

"Pfft," Rensho said.

He then grabbed Sasuke's left wrist and twisted it, easily breaking it. As Sasuke fell to the ground he pain, he saw that his Chidori didn't leave a mark on him. Sasuke was left dumbfounded.

'How?' Sasuke wondered, 'How?! Not even my Chidori works on him?! What hell is he made of?!'

"Here's your second chemistry lesson," Rensho said as he looked down on Sasuke. "Diamond is good electrical insulator, meaning lightning style jutsu won't have any effect on me either. All of your jutsu is powerless before my diamond. Plus you won't be able to wield hand signs anymore with that broken wrist. You're as good as finished."

Rensho shaped his arm into a large hammer and wacked Sasuke with it, sending him across the room. Rensho jumped up so as to smash his down onto Sasuke. Sasuke recovered from Rensho's earlier strike and managed to roll out of the way while Rensho struck the floor, creating a crater upon impact. Rensho stepped out of the crater with both of his arms shaped into hammers and ran for Sasuke. Sasuke continued to use his Sharingan to avoid Rensho's strikes, but he knew he couldn't keep this up forever.

Sasuke was feeling helpless. He only had one option left: the Mankgeyou Sharingan. However, Sasuke was hesitant to use it because he didn't know what it was going to do to him. As Sasuke hesitated, his brother slipped into his mind. He then became filled with anger and hatred.

'I can't afford to continue playing it safe,' Sasuke thought to himself. 'If I am ever going to kill him, I have to be willing to sacrifice everything. I have devoted my life to this one goal; I can't hold back!' With this fire burning inside of him, Sasuke activated his Mangekyyo Sharingan.

'What is that?' Rensho wondered as he was taken by surprise by this new Sharingan. 'That's no ordinary Sharingan. Whatever he is planning, I should probably stop him now!'

Rensho charged for Sasuke once more. Blood started dripping from Sasuke's right eye as Rensho became consumed by black flames.

Ragnarok gazed on this with total amazement. 'Is this the Amaterasu? I never thought I would be able to see it with my own eyes. At least not this soon.'

Sasuke, fueled by his anger, showed no sign of letting up as he continued to engulf Rensho in black fire. Concerned that he may lose his apprentice, Ragnarok unleashed a stream of darkness from his hand and covered Rensho's body to protect him. After Ragnarok intervened, Sasuke stopped his attack and deactivated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Suddenly, Sasuke became overcome by fatigue and he feel to the ground.

'That…jutsu…it used up…all of my chakra…I feel like…I'm about to pass out."

As Sasuke laid there, Ragnarok removed the darkness that was covering Rensho. All the black fire from Sasuke's Amaterasu had disappeared.

"Rensho, are you hurt?" asked Ragnarok as he rushed towards him. Ragnarok looked at his body to find that there was no damage done to him at all.

"No Master, I am alright," Rensho answered back.

As he was losing consciousness, Sasuke looked at Rensho with great animosity. 'I…couldn't even hurt him…with these eyes? The same eyes…as Itachi?' With this final thought, Sasuke was out cold.

Ragnarok walked towards Sasuke and stood over his unconscious body. "It would appear that he does not yet have the chakra reserves to sustain using the Mangekyo Sharingan. If it tries to use it the way he is now, he'll likely end up killing himself from the strain it puts on his body." Ragnarok turned to Rensho who had changed his body back to normal. 'Amazing. That diamond body of his was able to withstand the intense flames of Amaterasu. It's as if that jutsu of his was created for the purpose of fighting the Uchiha.'

Rensho walked over beside his master and starred at Sasuke. "What do we do with him now, my lord?"

"Take him to the infirmary immediately," Ragnarok replied. "I want to make sure he recovers as soon as possible."

"Understood, Master." With that, Rensho picked up Sasuke and carried him to receive medical attention.


	10. Follow the Bikochu

_(We are going to jump ahead a little bit. After their investigation of Orochimaru's hideout in the Land of Rice Paddies, Naruto, Sakura, and Jiraiya learn about Orochimaru's death at the hands of the mysterious shinobi known as Ragnarok and Sasuke's joining the Shadow Village. Naruto and Team 8 have managed to retrieve a bikochu beetle which they intend to use to track Sasuke's scent. The Aburame clan has been training the bikochu to obey orders and locate Sasuke.)_

It was almost noon in the Hidden Leaf Village. The Fifth Hokage Tsunade was sitting at her desk performing her daily duty of filling out the paperwork that was dropped upon her. As she sat there scanning the reports from various scouting parties, Tsunade was starting to become consumed by boredom, as is part of her daily ritual.

"Oh man, I have been at this job for a while now and I still can't find the motivation to complete all these stupid forms," Tsunade said to herself. "I keep finding myself praying for something to walk through door and take me away from all of this." Just as she said this, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened to reveal Tsunade's assistant Shizune, who was carrying a small scroll in her hand.

'Lady Tsunade," began Shizune. "Is this a good time to interrupt?"

"At this point, I'll welcome any interruption as long as it gets me out of doing this paperwork," chuckled Tsunade. Shizune was not so amused by her master's remark.

"I have an urgent message for you from Shibi Aburame," Shizune said as she handed the scroll to Tsunade. The sound of the word "urgent" caught Tsunade's interest.

Tsunade unrolled the scroll and started reading the message.

"What does it say, my Lady?" asked Shizune.

Tsunade placed the scroll down on the table. "Shizune, get me a list of all the ninja that are currently available for deployment from Genin to Jonin."

"Why? What is it?" asked a curious Shizune.

"Just do it now!" commanded Tsunade.

"Yes, Ma'am!" obeyed Shizune whose nerves were shaken by Tsunade's change in tone. Shizune left the office to get her master the desired list without a moment of hesitation.

'So it's finally ready,' thought Tsunade as she looked down at the scroll again.

A half hour later, Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai, all stood before Tsunade in her office while Shizune stood at the side holding Ton Ton.

"I am sure you are all wondering why I summoned you here so I will get right to it," Tsunade began. "This morning I received a message from Shibi Aburame stating that he and the Aburame Clan have successfully tamed the bikochu Naruto and Team 8 brought back."

"So, it's finally ready to track Sasuke scent, is it?" questioned Kakashi.

"That is correct," Tsunade answered. "And I am sending the three of you to take the lead on this one. You're primary mission objective is to locate Sasuke Uchiha and bring him back to the Leaf Village. In addition to that, I would like you to obtain as much intel as you can about this Ragnarok. Your respective squads will be accompanying you on this mission."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, My Lady?" asked Kurenai. "You are sending us after the man who killed Orochimaru and you want to send genin along."

"Given the situation that the village is in I don't have a choice," replied Tsunade. "Most of our jonin and chunin are currently unavailable. It must have been some stroke of luck that the three of you were free. Normally I would send Jiraiya for this dangerous a mission, but since he is out investigating the Akatsuki I have to make do with what I have. Besides, I have seen those ninja of yours do things that I never would have expected from genin of their age."

"You should try having a little more faith in your students, Kurenai," noted Asuma.

"I do have faith in them," refuted Kurenai. "Don't forget that it was all because of my squad that we were given this chance to find Sasuke. Hinata was the one who called for the search of the bikochu and then ended up finding it. I am not about to let everything she's done go to waste."

"I think we all feel the same way," said Kakashi. "Although I do understand your concern, Kurenai. Whoever Ragnarok is, he possessed the skill to kill one of the Legendary Sannin. Even if Orochimaru was weakened by the Third Hokage's jutsu, killing him is a great feat no matter the circumstances."

"You're right," said Tsunade. "And that is why I strongly urge against any confrontation with Ragnarok. We are completely in the dark as to who he is and what he can do. Any piece of information you obtain from your search would be very beneficial. But again, locating Sasuke is your highest priority. Understood?"

"Right," answered all three jonin.

"Good," the Hokage said. "Inform your teams about this mission and have them meet at the village's main entrance in one hour. Kurenai, tell Shino that he is responsible for looking after the bikochu. If the mission doesn't go as planned, it is crucial that the bikochu is kept alive; as long as we have it, we will be able to find Sasuke. Dismissed."

Meanwhile in the village, Naruto was at Ichiraku's Ramen having lunch; he had already finished his second bowl of ramen.

"How about it, Naruto? You up for a third helping?" asked Teuchi. But Naruto did not answer him; it looked as if he was spacing out as he looked down at his empty bowl. "Hey Naruto, what's up?"

"What?" said Naruto as he snapped back into reality. "Sorry, old man. I just got a lot on my mind right now. It's been two weeks since we brought back the bikochu and Shino still says we can't use it to track Sasuke. I know it takes time to train insects and stuff, but I seriously don't know how long I can wait. If it wasn't for the missions Grandma Tsunade's been throwing at me, I would probably go crazy."

"I see," Teuchi replied. "Well all you can do now is be patient, Naruto. And I wouldn't worry about that bikochu if I were you. The Aburame Clan are the best at training bugs; they'll have that beetle ready before you know it."

"I know, I know," sighed Naruto. He then simply smiled and said "Well as long as I am waiting, I might as well have another serving! With more barbeque pork this time!" Teuchi chuckled at this change in Naruto's mood.

"Coming right up!"

"Naruto! There you are!"

Naruto turned around to see it was Sakura who was calling and running towards him. She was wearing her sleeved red qipao dress.

"Hey Sakura, how ya doing?" replied Naruto back. "You want some ramen? I'm buying."

"There's no time now, Naruto," replied Sakura after having reached Naruto. "Kakashi Sensei summoned us and we have to meet with her right away. It's urgent."

"Are you kidding me?" groaned Naruto. "Can't it wait? I just ordered another bowl of ramen."

"I think you've had enough already," stated Sakura as she looked at the two large empty bowls that sat in front of Naruto. "We don't have time to waste so let's go!" Sakura started pulling on Naruto's ear and dragging him away.

"Ow ow ow!" cried Naruto. "Alright I'm coming. You don't have to pull me all the way, ya know!"

"I guess I'll just put today's meal on your tab!" called back Teuchi.

Naruto and Sakura were walking down the path to the bridge to meet Kakashi when Naruto asked, "So what does Kakashi Sensei want with us anyway?"

"He wouldn't tell me," answered Sakura. "All he would tell me is that Lady Tsunade has given us a very important mission. Kakashi Sensei said he would go over the details when he meets with us."

As they continued on, the two of them saw Kakashi waiting for them at the bridge.

'Wow, this has got to be important if Kakashi Sensei is meeting us on time,' thought Naruto.

"All right Sensei, we're here," said Sakura as they met with Kakashi. "What is this new mission about?"

Kakashi took a deep breath because he knew how important this meant to the two of them. "This morning the Hokage just received confirmation from the Aburame Clan that the bikochu that was brought back to the village is ready to track Sasuke's scent."

Both Naruto and Sakura were left speechless.

"Wait. Then does that mean…?" questioned Naruto.

"Yes," answered Kakashi, "Our mission is to follow the bikochu, locate Sasuke, and bring him home." His two students were once again silent. "We will be working with Teams 8 and 10 on this one, so we will not be alone."

"Finally!" exclaimed Naruto. "I have been waiting forever for that bug to be ready. Now we can finally get to Sasuke and bring him back."

Compared to Naruto's enthusiasm, Sakura uneasiness was shown in her continued silence.

"I hope you both know what this means," stated their sensei. "There is a very good chance that we will come across Ragnarok, who was strong enough to kill Orochimaru. This man obviously possesses a considerable level of power which we know nothing about. To make things harder for us, Sasuke is not likely to come with us willingly. This is going to be as far from a walk in the park as you can get. I need to know that you guys are ready for this."

The difficulties that were stated made Sakura more anxious. 'Ever since the Chunin Exams, I've been working so hard to keep up with Sasuke and Naruto. I learned my clan's secret jutsu from Dad, genjutsu from Kurenai Sensei, and some medical jutsu from Lady Tsunade. And yet even with all of that under my belt, I still feel like I amount to nothing next those two. What could I do against the man who killed Orochimaru?'

"None of this makes a damn difference to me!" stated Naruto boldly. "It doesn't matter if he's being held by Orochimaru, Ragnarok, or the Devil himself. I'll bring Sasuke back home no matter who I have to fight. I told Sasuke I would stop him and I plan to keep my word. That's my ninja way!"

Naruto's determination helped to refuel Sakura's confidence. "That's right. And this time you won't be doing it alone. We'll bring Sasuke back together."

Kakashi was relieved to see how eager these two were willing to throw themselves into the jaws of death for Sasuke. "Very well. We going to head out in one hour. Get your things together and meet at the front entrance before then."

"Right!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Ok," stated Sakura.

With that, the two genin rushed off to make the necessary preparations.

By the time their hour was almost up, Naruto and Sakura were walking together on their way towards the main gate to meet the others. Neither of them had said much since they met up.

"How are you holding up, Naruto?" asked Sakura who was attempting to break the silence.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, ya know," Naruto replied. "I mean we're going up against the man who beat Orochimaru, something Grandma Tsunade and Pervy Sage couldn't do together."

"I know," said Sakura. "But you didn't hesitate when we went to the Land of Rice Paddies with Master Jiraiya."

"Yeah well that was only because Pervy Sage was tagging along," stated Naruto

"Sure we had one of the Sannin with us," said Sakura. "But originally we were going out on our own. When I made the decision to going after Sasuke, I knew that I might not be coming back to the village. But that didn't matter to me and it doesn't matter now. All that matters is finding Sasuke no matter what it takes."

Naruto smiled at Sakura's boldness. "You're right, Sakura. Nothing has changed and it never will. I don't care who Ragnarok is; I'll beat the living daylights out of this guy if it means getting to Sasuke!"

'And there's the Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja we all know so well,' thought Sakura.

By this time, the two of them had reached the gate. There they saw Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino already there. Shino was holding a plastic insect case which contained the bikochu and was also holding Sasuke's headband, prepared to give it to the bikochu when the time came.

"Hey you guys finally made it!" called out Kiba.

"Where's our sensei?" asked Sakura.

"They're supposed to be here by now," stated Shikamaru. "It would be a real drag if they made us wait longer than we had to."

Naruto approached Shino and the bikochu. Hinata turned away slightly when Naruto was coming closer to her.

"So Shino, is the beetle really ready for this?" asked Naruto anxiously.

"We've already ran numerous trials with the bikochu," replied Shino. "We had it sniff out various scents pertaining to certain members and the bikochu managed to locate them all. It has been trained so that every time it is introduced to a new scent by an Aburame, it will follow that scent until it reaches it."

"Awesome! That means finding Sasuke should be a piece of cake!" boasted Naruto.

"It's also nice that I'll actually get to be a part of the mission this time," noted Shino.

'For crying out loud, he's still complaining about not going after Sasuke last time?' noted an irritated Kiba.

"I hope you'll be able to keep up with the rest of us, Sakura," said Ino. "Or else I might rescue Sasuke before you even have a chance to get to him."

"As if I let that happen, Ino Pig!" refuted Sakura. The two kunoichi started exchanging evil glares at each other while Chouji and Shikamaru backed away from them.

"It's good to see you all made."

All the young ninja turned around to see Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai standing before them.

"Since you all know the details, let's not waste any more time and get on with this," stated Kakashi. "Shino, whenever you're ready let the bikochu sniff Sasuke's headband and then release."

"Right," Shino said. He then opened the case and placed Sasuke's headband in it. The bikochu sniffed the headband for a few moments and then it flew out of the case following the trail.

"Let's go!" called out Kakashi.

With that, everyone was in pursuit of the bikochu, allowing it to lead them down whatever path it followed.

'Hang on Sasuke,' thought Naruto to himself. 'We're all coming for you. And this time we'll bring you home for sure!"


	11. Ragnarok's Gift

Ragnarok sat at his desk in his room looking over a book while drinking a bottle of sake that stood next to his candle. He had been going through Orochimaru's research and found a book containing information that caught his interest.

"Fascinating," noted Ragnarok. "So Orochimaru was once a member of this so-called "Akatsuki", eh?" Ragnarok continued turning through the pages. "To think that there was such an organization that brought so many dangerous S-Rank criminals together, including Itachi Uchiha." Ragnarok took a deep breath before taking a swig out of his bottle of sake. "What would these people want with the jinchurriki? Such an ambition would only make this kind of an organization an even more dangerous parasite than it already is."

As Ragnarok continued reading, there was a knock on his door.

"What is it? I'm busy," said Ragnarok.

"Forgive me, my lord, but the ninja you sent to Katabami Kinzan have finally returned," the voice from behind the door said. "Do you wish to see them?"

"Very well. Send them in." said Ragnarok.

A few minutes later, five Shadow ninja entered the room and stood before Ragnarok. The ninja in the front was holding something wrapped up in a cloth.

"Well, how did your mission go?" asked Ragnarok. "Were you able to recover them?"

"Yes my lord," said the ninja in the front. He then handed Ragnarok the wrapped item. Ragnarok placed the cloth on his desk and unwrapped it to unveil two swords with slim and straight double-edged blades and upward-curved bladed prongs.

"Ah yes," Ragnarok said. "The legendary lightning swords of the Hidden Mist: Kiba. It is a shame that we could not enlist one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. Nevertheless, I am sure I will find someone who can wield these." Ragnarok turned back towards his subordinates. "Good work men. You are dismissed for now." The five ninja bowed their heads to their master and then left the room. Ragnarok then turned back towards Kiba. "And I think I already have someone in mind." He then picked up the swords and left his room.

Ragnarok proceeded through his base until he arrived at the desired door. He opened the door and entered the room where Sasuke was resting in bed. Sasuke was lying there with his back to the doorway and to Ragnarok.

"What do you want?" groaned Sasuke.

"I just wanted to check up on you," answered Ragnarok. "How are you feeling today, Sasuke?"

"Fine," snarled Sasuke. "When are you going to start training me?"

"I told you to be patient, boy," Ragnarok said. "I want to make sure your body has completely recovered before doing anything. That Mangekyo Sharingan can kill you in your present state; if you want to achieve your ultimate goal, I suggest you listen to my guidance."

Sasuke did not saying anything back to Ragnarok.

"Now don't be so gloomy, Sasuke," smirked Ragnarok. "I brought a little present for you. I think it is something you might like." Ragnarok approached Sasuke's bed and laid Kiba on his bedside. Sasuke turned on his side and looked at the swords."

"What are those?" Sasuke asked.

"These are the lightning swords of the Hidden Mist Village," answered Ragnarok. "They are one of the seven legendary swords that were wielded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. I believe you've encountered two of them before, haven't you? Zabuza Momochi and Kisame Hoshigaki, correct?" Sasuke nodded his head. "I head sent a party of my ninja to Katabami Kinzan with the hopes of persuading one of the Ninja Swordsmen, Raiga Kurosuki, to join us. By the time they arrived, however, Raiga and the Kurosuki Family were already defeated by your friends from the Hidden Leaf. I was informed the Naruto was the one who killed Raiga." Sasuke made no reaction at the mention of Naruto's name. "Even if I couldn't enlist Raiga, my men were able to retrieve his swords and bring them back to me. I thought that with your lightning chakra you would be able to put them to good use."

Sasuke reached for the swords and picked them up. He simply stared at them as he held them before his eyes.

"Do you like my little gift?" asked Ragnarok.

Sasuke did not say anything. He just continued looking at the legendary swords that Ragnarok was giving to him.

"I sense that you are satisfied with this," noted Ragnarok. "I'll leave you be for now." With that Ragnarok left Sasuke alone with Kiba and shut the door behind him.

As Ragnarok proceeded down the corridor, he saw Kabuto and Gozen talking to each other.

"He is too dangerous to bring here," Kabuto said to Gozen. "Lord Orochimaru had him locked up because it is what he asked for.

"These are Lord Ragnarok's orders," stated Gozen. "He believes that someone of his talent would be a great asset to us."

"Listen to me, he is beyond controlling," argued Kabuto. "We have already tried countless experiments but nothing has ever entirely suppressed his killing urges. You will only put everyone in this base at risk unless you keep him chained up."

"What is this all about?" inquired Ragnarok as he stepped into the conversation.

"Lord Ragnarok," began Kabuto right before he and Gozen bowed their heads to him. "I was told by Gozen here that you were assembling a force to head for the Northern Hideout."

"That is correct, Kabuto," answered Ragnarok. "We have already cleaned out the Southern and Eastern Hideouts and the Northern one is the next on our list. I have been looking through Orochimaru's research and this Jugo I've read about has peaked my interests. I would very much like to meet him."

"I assure, my lord, Jugo should not be taken lightly," urged Kabuto. "If you read the research, you must be aware that he becomes a savage monster when his power activates. Any force you send is more than likely to end up slaughtered as soon as they reach the hideout. In addition, there are also countless of test subjects bearing the curse mark locked up in that fortress; if they have broken free, it will make this little expedition all the more a hassle."

"I am fully aware of the situation, Kabuto," stated Ragnarok. "I understand how powerful and dangerous this Jugo may be just by reading Orochimaru's notes. That is why I made the decision to lead the party myself."

"You're going out there, my lord?" asked a startled Gozen.

"Yes I am," Ragnarok reaffirmed. "From what I read about the hideout we would likely end up losing a good number of shinobi if they were sent on their own. However if I personally oversee this mission, we will be able to gain control of everything at the base while sustaining minimal to no casualties. Besides, with my power I will at least be able to keep Jugo in check such that he does not go beserk." Ragnarok turned to Kabuto. "Have you any objections on accompanying me for this mission?"

"No, my lord," consented Kabuto with a smile. "If you are convinced that it can be accomplished so easily, I see no reason to argue with you."

"Excellent," grinned Ragnarok as he turned back to Gozen. "I will leave you in charge of things here while I am gone. I trust that you can manage everything in my absence, correct?"

"Yes my lord," assured Gozen, who bowed once more to Raganork. "I am more than capable of keeping things in order here."

"Good, because I prefer to find my things exactly as I left them," warned Ragnarok. "Come Kabuto, we'll assemble the squad and head out immediately.

"Yes sir," obeyed Kabuto. Ragnarok proceeded down the hall while Kabuto followed him and Gozen stayed behind. Ragnarok then stopped walking and stood there for a second.

"One other thing, Gozen," Ragnarok said as he turned to the old man. "Make sure that Sasuke doesn't do anything that I would find irritating. Understand?"

"Yes my lord," complied Gozen.

Ragnarok and Kabuto then continued down the hall to prepare to head out to the Northern Hideout.


End file.
